Debate Boosts Graduation Rates
Mezuk (2009) examines data from Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Debate League from 1997 to 2006. Overall, more than three quarters of debaters graduate, compared to barely half of non-debaters. The effects for African American males are even bigger: African American males who participate in debate are 70 percent more likely to graduate and three times less likely to drop out than their peers.
SOURCE: Mezuk, B. (2009). Urban Debate and High School Educational Outcomes for African American Males: The Case of the Chicago Debate League. The Journal of Negro Education, 78(3), 290-304.
