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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

How many students aren't graduating?

Last week Education Week released their annual special issue Diplomas Count 2008. You may have come across headlines decrying that 30 percent of high schoolers dropout or 1.23 million students fail to earn a diploma. These headlines cite the graduation rates reported by Education Week. However, BoardBuzz knows better than to believe such exaggerated claims. That?s because we've read the Center for Public Education's Straight Story on High School Graduation Rates which cautions against making such claims from the data. The Center's guide informs readers that graduation rates are not the inverse of dropout rates. Meaning, just because a student isn't included in the graduation rate doesn't necessarily mean the student never received a diploma. Which further means that the 30 percent dropout rate you've heard so much fuss about is probably not that high. Included in that 30 percent are students who took longer than four years to graduate, students who went on to receive a GED, and students who received a Certificate of Completion instead of a standard diploma. Although not traditional graduates, BoardBuzz certainly wouldn't consider these students dropouts (and neither would they!). Unfortunately, we don't know exactly how many of these students there are, who they are, and what happens to them after high school. But our friends at the Center for Public Education are on the case. In particular, the Center will be looking into how many students are taking longer than the typical four years to graduate and who these students tend to be. The Center will also look to see how these students' lives differ after high school than traditional graduates and dropouts. This is of particular interest to BoardBuzz because there has been a lot of talk of making high schools more accountable for their graduation rates in next version of NCLB (if that day ever comes). But if these graduation rates are based on only those students who graduate in four years, won't that punish schools for taking the time to teach those students who come in behind instead of just giving them a piece of paper after four years? Schools should be encouraged to take the time necessary to graduate all their students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in this global economy, not penalized. Hopefully NCLB 2.0 will do so. For more findings from Education Week's Diplomas Count 2008 check out the Center's summary here.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 11, 2008 (boomark / email).