High School Drop-Out Rates Are Higher Than Reported

By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 5/7/2007

More teenagers are dropping out of high school than what’s being reported at the state and federal level, says a new report by the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Excellent Education.

“Understanding High School Graduation Rates” says there are currently eight different types of graduation rate calculations being used by states nationwide and many of them are staggeringly inaccurate.

As a result, independent researchers have confirmed over the last few years that more teens are dropping out of high school than is being reported. New York, for example, reports that 76 percent of its high school students graduate, but independent researchers calculate that the actual figure could be as low as 58 percent. The discrepancy is even higher in California, which says 87 percent of its students graduate, while independent researchers say as little as 65 percent actually graduate.

“Not only does this obscure the graduation rate crisis, particularly for poor and minority students, but it also makes it impossible to compare graduation rates across schools, districts, and states,” the study says, adding that while 70 percent of students do graduate each year, nearly 1.2 million do not.

The alliance says more accurate graduation-rate information is crucial because it’s an important indicator of school performance for parents and policymakers, and can help target more resources for low-performing schools. “Graduation rates are also a cornerstone of high school accountability,” the report says. For a copy of the report, visit www.all4ed.org.