Dropout Rates by Selected Population

In a previous post, I broke down high school graduation rates by state (see here). Here we will look out the dropout rates of selected populations in low income communities in Massachusetts.

As of 2010, the 4 year dropout rate in Massachusetts for all students was 8.2%. In looking specifically at different populations, however, we see that the dropout rate often varies and, in some cases, is much higher than MA state statistics. Below is a table indicating the 4 year cohort dropout rate for a few select populations in Massachusetts. All numbers are percentages.

	MA
Limited English Proficiency	21.5
Special Education	14.7
Low Income	15.3
African American/Black	13.8
Asian	4.9
Hispanic	20.2
White	5.4
Male	9.5
Female	6.9

From this we see that limited English proficiency, special education and Hispanic students, among others, are much more likely to drop out of high school. Hispanic students, for example, are 4 times more likely to drop out than Asian and White students, likely due in part to trouble grasping the English language.

Studies have indicated that low income students are at particularly risk for not finishing high school. Below are the high school dropout rates for 6 low income communities in Massachusetts. While 34.2% of students in MA as a whole are low-income, the percentage of low income students in these cities ranges from 72.5% to 87.1%.

	Boston	Chelsea	Holyoke	Lawrence	Lowell	Lynn
All Students	15.9	25.1	28.4	26.6	13.6	16.4
Limited English Proficiency	16.9	37.8	45.6	34.2	16.7	25.9
Special Education	24.3	35.4	42.5	39.7	34.3	31.9
Low Income	15.5	25.4	32	26.4	15.3	18
African American/Black	16.3	19.4	23.1	8.7	13.8	19.3
Asian	4.8	25	N/A	20	12.4	14
Hispanic	20.4	25.2	33.1	27.4	17.9	20.1
White	9.9	29.7	14.5	25	12.3	12.6
Male	18.5	31.5	29.5	32.9	17.9	17.9
Female	13.1	18.7	27.3	20.4	9.2	14.8

Most importantly, we see that the dropout rate for all students in these cities is much higher than what Massachusetts reports as a whole. Overall 4 year dropout rates in these communities are as high as 28.4%; also this data does not include students who may be required to complete a fifth year of high but drop out before doing so. Looking at the specific populations, it is clear that limited English proficiency students and special education students have particularly high drop out rates. Dropout rates for the special education group in these cities ranges from a quarter to nearly half of the total population. Additionally, drop out rates for Hispanic students ranges from almost 18% to 33.1%, a significant percentage give that the Hispanic population in these communities ranges from 40.1% (Boston) to 90.1% (Lawrence). In Holyoke in particular, nearly half of both special education and limited English proficiency students drop out of high school. Males are also much more likely to dropout; noticeable gender differences in dropout rates exist in Chelsea, Lawrence, and Lowell.

Even within the same city, drop out rates can vary among selected populations in different schools. Lynn, MA, a city with almost 90,000 people, has 3 high schools: Lynn English (1,739 students) and Lynn Classical  (1,401 students) are more college preparatory in focus while Lynn Tech (809 students) is a vocational school where students can learn a trade. Below are the 2010 drop out rates for these schools:

	Lynn Classical	Lynn English	Lynn Tech
All Students	10.8	9.8	27.1
Limited English Proficiency	30.6	14.9	32.6
Special Education	27.3	22	32.2
Low Income	11.1	10.3	25.2
African American/Black	12.8	14.7	33.3
Asian	2.3	10	36.8
Hispanic	16.5	10	29.8
White	8.3	8.5	19.1
Male	11.7	12.8	24.7
Female	9.8	7.1	30.7

When broken down further, one sees that Lynn's high dropout rates for certain populations may be driven by one or two schools. All three schools seem to be having difficulty keeping special education students on track to graduation; this is important because the special education populations at these schools are not insignificant with 11.2% of students at Lynn English, 13.3% of students at Lynn Classical and 23.6% of students at Lynn Tech are considered special ed. Educating special ed students is not Lynn Tech's only difficulty as the school is seeing a third of African American, Asian and Hispanic students leave school. These groups combined make up 77.8% of the Tech's total student population. Surprisingly, females are also more likely to drop out at Lynn Tech than males. 

Sadly, the current focus of education reform has centered around teacher tenure and collective bargaining, while little to no discussion around what we can do to increase graduation rates and keep minority  students from falling through the cracks This is especially important given that those how do not complete high school are increased risk for negative outcomes including poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and substance abuse (Annunziata, Hogue, Faw, & Liddle, 2006). Part of the solution may be to allow schools or school districts to come up with individualized plans for their students and their schools making interventions more specific to their needs. As we see with the city level comparisons, some cities are having issues with certain populations that another city with similar demographics may not be. Furthermore, schools within the same district may have different challenges as was indicated with the case of Lynn, MA. While debate continues around teacher effectiveness and unions, some of Massachusetts' (likely the country's) most vulnerable students are dropping out in large numbers. Instead of focusing on ways to fire people and implementing reforms with little evidence for success, politicians, reformers, and parents should be trying to find ways to help keep America's youth in school and graduate (on time).

**All data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu

Reference: 

Annunziata, D., Hogue, A., Faw, L., & Liddle, H. A. (2006). Family functioning and school success in at-risk, inner-city adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 105-113.

*Part II (Coming July 22): Dropout Rates by Selected Population: Lynn: What do these dropout rates mean in terms of actual numbers for the city of Lynn?