Understanding Texas High School Dropout Data
Dropping out: The data
Despite years of research, the true picture of dropout and graduation rates remains elusive, even the subject of cross words between researchers. The consensus: Far too many Texas public school students, particularly those from poor and minority families, don’t cross the high-school finish line.
All methods of quantifying the dropout rate have problems. Students and families don't always tell schools what happens after they leave a school, and researchers have legitimate disagreements over methodology. Four common methods of tracking student retention from 9th through 12th grades are completion rates, graduation rates, attrition ...
Comments (2)
bbetzen
This is a valuable discussion that is simply too rate in our nation. We must know what we are saying when we talk about dropout rates. Every school and school district should have a multi-year enrollment by grade spreadsheet that reflects student movement going back 10+ years. It should then be updated annually to track progress in the lessening of attrition from one year to the next.
Once we know the depth of the dropout tragedy our children suffer under we must begin to change it. To help focus our children, and our nation, onto our children's futures. We did this at our Dallas inner-city middle school starting in 2005. We had a 350-pound vault donated to the school and bolted to a central place in our school lobby under spotlights. It functions as our school archive. It has 10 shelves inside and each year, on Archiving Day in May, each one of 20+ 8th grade Language Arts classes is assigned a time to come down and pose as a class in front of the Archive holding the self addressed letters to themselves they have been working on. They document their history, their current lives, and what they hope to be doing in 10 years and how they are going to get there.
The next day they each get two copies of that photo with a large lable attached to the back of each photo with the details of their planned 10-year class reunion in November of the 10th year after they leave 8th grade. They are reminded that they will be invited to speak with the then current 8th grade class who will not have yet written their letters. They will give their recommendations for success to these students. They are warned to be prepared for questions such as "Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?"
Such forward thinking has helped. Since 2005 something has lowered the dropout rates at both high schools our students attend. Both schools set records for the size of their 2009 Class. One school set an 8 year record and for the other it was over a 12 year record. Something good is happening. Now 4 more schools here in Dallas have started Archive Projects and have had large 500 pound vaults bolted to the floors of their lobbyies. More details are at www.studentmotivation.org.
bbetzen
This is a valuable discussion that is simply too rare in our nation. We must know what we are saying when we talk about dropout rates. Every school and school district should have a multi-year enrollment by grade spreadsheet that reflects student movement going back 10+ years. It should then be updated annually to track progress in the lessening of attrition from one year to the next.
Once we know the depth of the dropout tragedy our children suffer under we must begin to change it. To help focus our children, and our nation, onto our children's futures. We did this at our Dallas inner-city middle school starting in 2005. We had a 350-pound vault donated to the school and bolted to a central place in our school lobby under spotlights. It functions as our school archive. It has 10 shelves inside and each year, on Archiving Day in May, each one of 20+ 8th grade Language Arts classes is assigned a time to come down and pose as a class in front of the Archive holding the self addressed letters to themselves they have been working on. They document their history, their current lives, and what they hope to be doing in 10 years and how they are going to get there.
The next day they each get two copies of that photo with a large lable attached to the back of each photo with the details of their planned 10-year class reunion in November of the 10th year after they leave 8th grade. They are reminded that they will be invited to speak with the then current 8th grade class who will not have yet written their letters. They will give their recommendations for success to these students. They are warned to be prepared for questions such as "Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?"
Such forward thinking has helped. Since 2005 something has lowered the dropout rates at both high schools our students attend. Both schools set records for the size of their 2009 Class. One school set an 8 year record and for the other it was over a 12 year record. Something good is happening. Now 4 more schools here in Dallas have started Archive Projects and have had large 500 pound vaults bolted to the floors of their lobbyies. More details are at www.studentmotivation.org.