High School Dropout, Graduation, and Completion Rates Better Data, Better Measures, Better Decisions (2011) / Chapter Skim
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2 Dropout Rates, Graduation Rates, and Public Policy
2 Dropout Rates, Graduation Rates, and Public Policy
Pages 11-24
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From page 11... ...
Numerous policy measures have been targeted at improving the educational attainment of young people in this country, but it is hard to evaluate their effectiveness without accurate, consistent estimates of graduation and dropout rates. In this chapter, we explore a series of issues intended to provide context for the report.
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From page 12... ...
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC OuTCOMES ASSOCIATED WITH EDuCATIONAL ATTAINMENT There is a wide body of research on the social and economic outcomes associated with educational attainment. A review of these studies reveals that individuals who fail to earn a high school diploma are clearly disadvantaged in many aspects of life -- from the jobs they obtain and the wages they earn to their sense of physical and emotional well-being.
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From page 13... ...
studied health outcomes. A second category consists of studies that permit causal inferences about the effects of particular programs designed to achieve objectives, such as to increase the high school graduation rate.
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From page 14... ...
12) found that 84 percent of adults with less than a high school diploma reported that they "never engage in periods of vigorous leisuretime physical activity as compared with 46 percent of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher." Roughly 29 percent of high school dropouts are considered to be obese, compared with 20 percent of college graduates (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008)
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From page 15... ...
found that the risk of imprisonment was three to four times higher for white and black male dropouts compared with high school graduates, with the risk of imprisonment for black dropouts at 69 percent. In addition, dropouts are about three and a half times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested (Coalition for Juvenile Justice, 2001)
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From page 16... ...
Data Sources One source for dropout and graduation rates is nationally collected data. For more than 50 years, information about educational attainment has been available through the Current Population Survey (CPS)
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From page 17... ...
Some of these problems may result because of inadequate record-keeping systems; others are the result of deliberate efforts to keep official dropout rates low and graduation rates high. Discrepancies in the Reported Rates For years, the most frequently reported rate was the CPS national dropout rate.
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From page 18... ...
, who, using CPS data, reported a higher overall graduation rate of 82 percent and graduation rates for African Americans and Hispanics of approximately 74 percent. Greene also reported graduation rates for each state, revealing alarmingly low rates for some states.
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From page 19... ...
Some states and school districts had routinely provided estimates of their graduation and dropout rates, and the Goals 2000 Educate America Act called for increasing the graduation rate to 90 percent by 2000, but there were no previous mandates for reporting these rates or any common standards for such reports. Initial NCLB Regulations NCLB placed new emphasis on graduation rates, requiring that states report these rates as part of the adequate yearly progress (AYP)
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From page 20... ...
Because the graduation rate provisions were so loosely defined, there were many concerns that the test-based mandates would lead schools to "push" low-performing students out of school in an effort to increase test scores. A survey of the states conducted by the Civil Rights Project in fall 2003 revealed that no meaningful graduation rate accountability was in place.
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From page 21... ...
The NGA Compact, ultimately signed by all 50 governors, issued a set of five recommendations to help promote consistency in determining state graduation rates. Specifically (National Governors Association Task Force on State High School Graduation Data, 2005, pp.
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From page 22... ...
The regulations also call for the state to establish a graduation rate goal that it expects all schools in the state to meet, to set annual graduation rate targets that reflect continuous and substantial improvement from the previous year, to report graduation rates disaggregated by subgroups, and to include the disaggregated rates in AYP determinations (http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/reg/ proposal/uniform-grad-rate.html)
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From page 23... ...
We further think that schools and districts should report a number of different dropout and graduation rates and complementary indicators to provide a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the problem and their progress toward addressing it. Examples include graduation and completion rates for all entering ninth graders, regardless of whether they transfer, and grade 9 promotion rates.
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