MA Schools with the Lowest Dropout Rates Enroll High Percentages of Low Income, Blakc & Hispanic/Latino Students

An article recently appearing in the The Atlantic titled Segregation Now discussed how 60 years after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, separate but equal schooling is reappearing in the Tuscaloosa, AL public school system. In the article, Nikole Hannah-Jones writes:

"High-poverty, segregated black and Latino schools account for the majority of the roughly 1,400 high schools nationwide labeled “dropout factories”—meaning fewer than 60 percent of the students graduate. School officials often blame poor performance on the poverty these kids grow up in. But most studies conclude that it’s the concentration of poor students in the same school that hurts them the most."

In Massachusetts, there are 42 schools that currently could be considered 'dropout factories' based on the criteria of having a graduation rate of less than 60%

School	City	2013 4 yr. Grad Rate	% Low Income
East Boston High	Boston	58.0%	76.0%
Jeremiah E. Burke	Boston	56.8%	79.7%
City on a Hill Charter	Boston	53.4%	86.7%
Wareham Cooperative	Wareham	52.7%	53.8%
Fitchburg Alt. Ed	Fitchburg	51.6%	61.5%
The English High	Boston	51.5%	87.2%
International High	Lawrence	48.5%	92.7%
Gateway to College	Ralph C Mahar	48.0%	4.7%
Boston International	Boston	45.5%	77.4%
High School Science-Tech	Springfield	45.0%	81.8%
Charlestown High	Boston	42.2%	87.5%
Edison Academy	Brockton	39.7%	84.9%
Dean Vocational Tech	Holyoke	39.3%	92.2%
Boston Adult Academy	Boston	36.6%	76.9%
Dorchester Adult Academy	Boston	36.5%	82.7%
High School of Commerce	Springfield	35.8%	80.6%
Resiliency Prep	Fall River	34.7%	91.3%
Gtr. Egleston Community	Boston	33.7%	91.4%
Horace Mann - Schl Deaf	Boston	33.3%	91.9%
Liberty Prep	Springfield	33.3%	81.2%
Springfield High School	Springfield	31.7%	81.5%
Goddard Alternative	Brockton	30.8%	96.2%
School for Exceptional Studies	Lawrence	30.0%	94.3%
Gardner Academy	Gardner	27.8%	70.3%
Trinity Day Academy	New Bedford	27.3%	70.7%
Springfield Public Day	Springfield	26.8%	87.4%
Seacoast Day	Revere	24.7%	89.4%
Whaling City Jr/Sr	New Bedford	24.2%	84.8%
Community Academy	Boston	23.1%	82.1%
Gateway to College	Springfield	21.7%	77.1%
High School Learning Ctr	Lawrence	20.5%	81.4%
Fecteau-Leary Jr/Sr	Lynn	20.0%	89.9%
Full Circle	Somerville	20.0%	91.1%
William McKinley	Boston	18.6%	94.0%
Phoenix Charter Academy	Chelsea	18.3%	87.6%
Boston Day & Evening Charter	Boston	16.7%	84.8%
BB Russell Alt	Brockton	15.8%	92.2%
Salem Community Charter	Salem	15.4%	97.7%
Brockton Champion	Brockton	15.3%	70.1%
Haverhill Alternative	Haverhill	12.5%	95.9%
Lowell Middlesex Charter	Lowell	10.4%	79.8%
Chicopee Academy	Chicopee	7.3%	94.3%

The average low income rate at these schools based on the 2013-14 enrollment data is 82.3%; the range was 4.7% to 97.7% with Gateway to College School in Ralph C Mahar being the major outlier. At the district level, there are three public school systems that fall into this category as well (Holyoke, 53.8%; Springfield, 54.9%; and New Bedford, 59%) in addition to the charter schools listed above which the state also categorizes as single-school districts.


Looking at the enrollment of black and Hispanic/Latino students, these students make up a high percentage of the populations at the schools on this list.

School	2013 4 yr.  Grad Rate	% African Amer./Black	% Hispanic/ Latino
East Boston High	58.0%	66.4%	13.2%
Jeremiah E. Burke	56.8%	75.9%	20.1%
City on a Hill Charter	53.4%	65.0%	30.4%
Wareham Cooperative	52.7%	6.7%	3.8%
Fitchburg Alt. Ed	51.6%	3.4%	42.5%
The English High	51.5%	41.8%	51.0%
International High	48.5%	0.2%	98.5%
Gateway to College	48.0%	4.7%	7.8%
Boston International	45.5%	46.7%	47.2%
High School Science-Tech	45.0%	18.7%	69.4%
Charlestown High	42.2%	41.9%	30.4%
Edison Academy	39.7%	71.0%	9.2%
Dean Vocational Tech	39.3%	1.5%	91.1%
Boston Adult Academy	36.6%	64.6%	28.3%
Dorchester Adult Academy	36.5%	68.8%	20.4%
High School of Commerce	35.8%	24.4%	65.7%
Resiliency Prep	34.7%	10.4%	26.8%
Gtr. Egleston Community	33.7%	37.7%	52.6%
Horace Mann - Schl Deaf	33.3%	36.0%	41.4%
Liberty Prep	33.3%	12.5%	65.6%
Springfield High School	31.7%	26.2%	60.0%
Goddard Alternative	30.8%	45.3%	13.2%
School for Exceptional Studies	30.0%	4.6%	82.5%
Gardner Academy	27.8%	0.0%	2.2%
Trinity Day Academy	27.3%	9.8%	24.4%
Springfield Public Day	26.8%	36.2%	51.1%
Seacoast Day	24.7%	6.2%	52.1%
Whaling City Jr/Sr	24.2%	20.2%	37.4%
Community Academy	23.1%	77.2%	16.0%
Gateway to College (Springfield)	21.7%	22.9%	601.0%
High School Learning Ctr	20.5%	1.8%	94.0%
Fecteau-Leary Jr/Sr	20.0%	19.7%	43.3%
Full Circle	20.0%	21.4%	35.7%
William McKinley	18.6%	49.1%	35.0%
Phoenix Charter Academy	18.3%	25.9%	64.8%
Boston Day & Evening Charter	16.7%	48.6%	35.3%
BB Russell Alt	15.8%	70.3%	14.1%
Salem Community Charter	15.4%	7.0%	46.5%
Brockton Champion	15.3%	41.2%	19.6%
Haverhill Alternative	12.5%	10.2%	38.8%
Lowell Middlesex Charter	10.4%	2.0%	38.4%
Chicopee Academy	7.3%	6.6%	55.7%

The average percent of black and Hispanic/Latino students combined at these schools is 71.1% based on the most recent data (the average for black students is 29.8% and 54.2% for Hispanic/Latino students).

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