Recently, Washington State Superintendent of Public Education, Randy Dorn announced some interesting numbers about high school graduation rates. WASL Goes Away

However, he said, another number — the percentage of those students who graduate on time from high school — hints at the number that may actually be dropping out. For example, just 48 percent of American Indian students graduate on time. For Pacific Islanders, the number is 59 percent, and for African Americans, the figure is 60 percent. White students have an on-time graduation rate of 75 percent, and Asians graduate on time at a rate of about 81 percent. "You have populations of students that are doing much worse," Dorn said. "We have to look at that and be honest with the public of where we stand today."

The real question to ask public school officials is whether they really know what the true dropout rate is? Another question is whether in certain urban or rural schools the number is much higher and the numbers for these schools are masked by reporting an overall average dropout rate. The New York Times recently reported on the gap in graduation rates between urban and suburban schools. Graduation Rates The press release regarding the WASL and graduation rates was not clear about whether there was a difference between the graduation rates of urban, suburban, and rural schools. OSPI Press Release

Washington’s on-time graduation rate has averaged about 72 percent between 2004 and 2008, with an extended graduation rate of about 77 percent over the same five-year period. The state’s annual dropout rate is nearly 6 percent, which means that each year the state loses a little more than one in every 20 students. Over a four-year period, though, more than 20 percent of the state’s high school students have dropped out.

It is difficult to get an accurate picture of which schools have a dropout problem or a dropout rate higher than the reported average. One can only speculate.

Consequences of Leaving School Before Getting a Diploma

Superintendent Dorn is correct in making higher high school graduation rates a priority. The education disparity is a symptom of disparity in society. The Education Equality Project provides some interesting facts. Disparity Facts

Racial Gap

- By 4th grade, Black and Latino students are on average nearly 3 years behind their White and Asian counterparts

· The Nation’s Report Card, The National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/NATIONSREPORTCARD/

- Black and Latino students are 2-3x more likely to have below basic skills in reading and math

· NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables, data for public schools

- Barely half of African American and Latino students graduate from high school, with Latinos graduating at 58%, African Americans at 55%, and their white counterparts at 78%

· Alliance for Excellent Education. “Understanding High School Graduation Rates in the United States.” (2008) http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/understanding_HSgradrates

Income Gap / Interaction of Racial and Income Gap

- 90% of incoming freshman at the top 150 colleges come from families in the top half of U.S. annual income

· The Educational Testing Service http://www.ets.org/

- Only 9% of students in Tier 1 (146 most selective) colleges were from the bottom half of the income distribution

· National Center for Education Statistics; Center for Education Policy, NAEP data for public schools, College Board

- 70% of people in top 10% income bracket have at least a bachelor’s degree

· McKinsey Global Institute; CPI http://eep.3.cdn.net/73323d7f685616b700_n6m6bfwxx.pdf

- On average, a high school graduate earns $600,000 more during his/her lifetime than a dropout.

· Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics

- 20% of teachers in high poverty schools are inexperienced vs. 11% in low poverty schools, and 21% in high minority schools vs. 105 in low minority schools

· Closing the Achievement Gap Takes Leadership: Lessons from Schools and Districts on the Performance Frontier, Kati Haycock, 2008.

- A high school dropout is 5-8x more likely to be incarcerated than a college graduate

· Enrico Moretti, “Crime and the Costs of Criminal Justice.” The Price We Pay, 2007; Pew Center on the States, “One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008”

- A 10% increase in high school graduation rates would reduce murder rates by 20%

· Lochner, Lance and Enrico Moretti. “The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports.” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers (2001) #8605 http://www.nber.org/papers/w8605

Why Do Kids Dropout?

The state of Delaware has an alarming dropout rate. “Only six out of 10 Delaware high schoolers will graduate by 2010.” Why Kids Dropout Barbara Pytel reports in an article which cites the Delaware statistics the reasons kids give for dropping out of school are:

When 500 dropouts, ages 16-25, were interviewed, they gave many reasons for leaving school:

· 47% said classes were not interesting

· 43% missed too many days to catch up

· 45% entered high school poorly prepared by their earlier schooling

· 69% said they were not motivated to work hard

· 35% said they were failing

· 32% said they left to get a job

· 25% left to become parents

· 22% left to take care of a relative

Two-thirds said they would have tried harder if more was expected from them.

Many school children come to school not prepared to learn either because they lack a basic education foundation or they face lack of family support or other family issues.

Preventing a Dropout Starts Early

Teacher Magazine reports that for many dropouts, dissatisfaction with school starts early. Dropout Prevention Starts Early

It's graduation time, but not for everyone. One out of every four students fails to graduate from high school in four years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Risk factors for dropping out include low academic achievement, mental health problems, truancy, poverty and teen pregnancy. But here's a shocker from Lynne Strathman, director of Lydia Urban Academy in Rockford, Ill., a small faith-based alternative program for dropouts.

Strathman says the one thing that she consistently finds is that "the last time these students felt successful was the fourth grade." That's right: Fourth grade. Which means parents and teachers may be ignoring years of red flags. "Dropping out of school is often the result of a long process of disengagement," agreed Stuart Udell, chairman of the National Dropout Prevention Center, based at Clemson University in South Carolina. And typically, he added, kids have multiple risk factors rather than one simple problem.

A Michigan study of 123 African American children who were born into poverty followed two groups of the children. One group had an intensive preschool experience and the control group had no preschool experience. The findings were startling. Children exposed to high quality preschool and a ready to learn program had a graduation rate of 71% versus the 54% of the children who did not go to preschool. Michigan Study Children who come to school ready and prepared to learn have better outcomes than those who are not prepared.

Two Washington state programs are examples of the types of programs which help parents prepare their children for school. Thrive by Five Washington has information for parents and caregivers in several languages. Thrive by Five Washington The Foundation for Early Learning has resources, which help parents prepare their children for school. Early Learning Foundation PBS also has resources to help parents with early learning activities. PBS Early Learning

GED Programs

If you or your child has failed to complete high school, you have the option of taking the GED or the high school equivalency exam. For information about GED programs, the official GED site can be found at Official GED site

Clearly, the answer to the dropout problem is a combination of early childhood education, family support, and different types of education programs which address different learning styles. It is costly to the child, the family, and the society when the decision is made to drop out of school.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

Dr Wilda says this about that ©