The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has recently released a study on high school dropouts containing some important information on their reasons for doing so. Many say that it’s just too boring, with too little demanded of them.

Arwynn Mattix of the Goldwater Institute writes about the survey:

A new Gates Foundation report detailing survey and focus-group responses by more than 500 dropouts nationwide prompted a two-day Oprah Winfrey special and a Time Magazine cover story. The coverage exposed the sad reality that nearly one in three high school students drops out.

High school dropouts need options, not opt-outs.

Surprisingly, only 35 percent of participants in the Gates Foundation report identified fear of failure as a major factor in their decision to leave school. Seventy percent thought they could have graduated, and two-thirds said that ?they would have worked harder if more had been demanded of them.?

These findings refute the common assumption that students drop out because they are unable to meet academic standards. With 88 percent of respondents earning passing grades, it is more reasonable to believe these students are under-challenged than it is to write them off as underachievers.

The overwhelming majority of participants said they might not have dropped out if their schools offered better instruction (81 percent) and fostered an academic climate (65 percent). Not being challenged increased student boredom and absenteeism levels. As one respondent put it, ?They just let you pass, anything you got.?