The topic my colleague chose to research and collect data on is the rate of children dropping out of high school. When collecting data, things to consider are gender, race/ethnicity, and family income level. High school students have a lot of options for getting diplomas. They have online schools, charter schools, and homeschooling. It is important for kids to complete high school. High school graduates make more money over a lifetime than those who do not graduate. I can see myself in the data because my middle son has recently decided to drop out. His father dropped out and he has decided to follow in his father's footsteps, managing a fast-food restaurant. I am hoping he decides to get his GED and go to technical school in the future. I see a lot of uncertainty about kids graduating as there are a lot of varied factors that go into a child dropping out. Some drop out because of bullying; some kids need to work to help earn money to pay the bills. The best way to show the data that is easiest to understand would be a line graph. Although the rates have gone down over the years, we still have work to do to get kids their high school diplomas.

Chalabi emphasizes data collection so trends can be tracked over time and comparisons can be made as needed. Explain how this data could be used in a specific application.

What is one organization or group that would be interested in the results of this data collection project? How might they use the results?