The Inter-Cohort Reproduction of Mexican American Dropouts

The Mexican American population has the highest dropout rate in the country. This paper examines the inter-cohort reproduction
of dropouts hypothesis and a series of other hypotheses in the analysis of the dropout rates of native-born Mexican Americans.
The paper also offers an overview of existing problems related to the measurement of dropouts. Data from the 2000 5% Public
Use Microdata Sample based on 524 Public Use Microdata Areas are used in the analysis. The results show an association between
inter-cohort dropout rates—areas with higher dropout rates among the native-born Mexican American 41–49 age cohort had higher
dropout rates among the native-born Mexican American 16–24 age cohort. The results also support other hypotheses, but not
as strongly as the inter-cohort reproduction of dropouts hypothesis. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications
of the results for the formation of policies and programs to reduce the dropout rate of Mexican American youth along with
a discussion of the limitations of the study.