- 6,176 retained ninth-graders in 2000 were followed by 1,071 late graduates in 2004
- 5,697 retained ninth-graders in 2001 were followed by 952 late graduates in 2005.
- 5,540 retained ninth-graders in 2002 were followed by 1,026 late graduates in 2006.
- 5,106 retained ninth-graders in 2003 were followed by 864 late graduates in 2007.
In round numbers, that's seventeen diplomas for each one hundred repeat ninth-graders, and a pretty grim indicator of how poorly we currently serve students who lose their footing early in their high school careers.
(Source note: retention numbers are in the Briefing Packet here, with graduates in more than four years in the Profiles here, using the sum of "Grads IEP" and "Grads PLUS)
Shoots big holes in the theory that some kids just need five years to graduate, so we should let them. Obviously, we aren't getting the job done in 4 or 5 years and we need to stop making excuses and start analyzing what is really going on.
ReplyDeleteI do know there are legitimate cases where illness, teen pregnancy, etc. might cause a student to temporarily drop out and re-enroll and due to the way the schools have to keep records this shows up as a 5 year graduate. But obviously those situations are few. Thanks Susan for posting this data.