In addition to the four-year graduation rates, the Massachusetts DESE also released the annual dropout data. During the 2012-13 school year, 4.8% of Lynn high school students dropped out compared to 4.1% in 2011-12.
Statewide, the annual dropout rate was 2.2%, down from 2.5% in 2011-12.
At the individual school level, both Classical and Lynn English's annual dropout rate increased over the previous year while Lynn Tech and Fecteau-Leary's both decreased.
Among the Commissioner's ten urban districts, three saw their annual dropout rate increase (Fall River, Holyoke and Lynn). Springfield, on the other hand saw a 3.5-point decrease in its annual dropout rate. The Lawrence public school district, which is current a Level 5 district in state receivership, saw a 0.1% decrease in its dropout rate.
All data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu
Seeing the graduation and the drop out rates one after teh other makes one wonder how these rates are computed. One would think that if graduation rate goes up, drop out rate would come down. But this is not what is happening here. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you can drop out at any grade level, but you can only graduate from one.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. The graduation rate is computed by looking at a single class over time - in this case the class of 2013 (all students entering 9th grade for the first time in 2009). Of the students who were supposed to graduate in 4 years or less as of 2013, 75.7% graduated on time.
ReplyDeleteThe annual dropout rate, on the other hand, is calculated by looking at anyone in any grade who dropped during the school year. Because you're looking at two different groups, one could go up while the other goes down. The four year dropout rate did decrease from 13.2% in 2012 to 11.8% in 2013. So of those students who were supposed to graduate in 2013, 11.8% dropped out.