News about graduation rates

by Debs Gardner

I wish it had been an April Fool's Day joke, but the news released on April 1st about graduation rates in urban school districts was truthful and sobering. The report (which you can find here), compiled by America's Promise, revealed that not only are graduation rates in the nation's 50 largest cities at an alarmingly low rate (about 58% graduating), but that the gap nationally between urban districts and their suburban counterparts (about 75% graduating) is significant.

Note that a school district being located in a suburban area doesn't cause kids to stay in school any more than a school district being in a city causes kids to drop out. There are some factors worth noting, especially poverty, racism, health, access to opportunities, and school funding that have a pretty strong impact on whether kids will succeed. Notably, some urban areas had a much higher discrepancy between suburban and urban graduation rates than others. Seattle had about a 10% discrepancy.

By the way, the same day the report was released, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced that the US would now require a standard means of reporting graduation rates. Also not an April Fool's joke. I'm curious; what do schools think of this? Does it make sense? Is the procedure or formula a good one?

We'll explore the issue of graduation more in future posts, including how to increase graduation without depleting the other ingredients youth need and deserve in their lives. Please share your thoughts as well.

Thanks to gadgetdude on Flickr for the Creative Commons photo.