— Flickr/jeco
Over the last several years, high school graduation rates have been steadily rising. That’s according to a new study released by the nonprofit, America’s Promise Alliance, which shows that between 2001 and 2008, the high school graduation rate increased from 72 to 75 percent nationally. The study also shows that “drop-out factories,” the seriously dispiriting term for urban schools in which 60 percent or fewer of students who enter as freshmen are still enrolled by their senior year, is declining, too. The total number of drop-out factories fell from about 2,000 to 1,750.
It sounds like good news. And it is, to a point. Depressingly, though, high school graduation rates peaked in 1969 at 77 percent, and declined overall throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, meaning a slightly-lower percentage of students are graduating from high school today than were just over forty years ago.
And while the numbers are no doubt an improvement, as the study’s authors acknowledge, several challenges remain:
In 2008, more than 2 million students still attended a high school in which graduation was no better than close to a 50/50 proposition. Additionally, nearly all of the high poverty urban school districts that have improved still have graduation rates below the national average. Too many graduates are still unprepared for the needs of college and high-wage employment.
Similar Posts:
- The lucky few; the unlucky millions
- Is it LD or just bad teaching?
- Attending a School With a Lousy College Ranking
- Is kiddy narcissism the new epidemic
- Monday Churn: Mix housing, fix schools?
