A new statewide count of high school dropouts, based on the tracking of individual students, shows significantly higher numbers than have been reported for years in California.
The dropout report, released Wednesday by the California Department of Education, estimated that one in four high school students - 24.2 percent - failed to graduate with their classes or move into another educational program to continue their high school education. The estimates were derived from data from the 2006-07 school year.
By contrast, the state claimed a 13.9 percent four-year dropout rate for the prior year.
The difference is due to a more accurate system for keeping track of students, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said. Under the new system, students across California were given a unique identification number that enabled the state to better track their whereabouts in the education system.
In the past, dropout counts were self-reported by schools and districts, and in many places were considered serious undercounts, especially when compared to the rates of freshmen who actually graduated with their classes four years later. One of the problems was that when students would leave schools saying they were transferring to other schools, their original campuses counted them as transfers, not dropouts, without checking whether the students actually re-enrolled elsewhere.
With the new student tracking system, the state was able to determine whether such transfers took place. If not, such students were deemed "lost transfers" and counted as dropouts by the state.
Eventually, an even more accurate count will be available when the state refines and launches a longitudinal data system in the 2009-10 year that will enable the state to track individual students over time.
The state's research found 67.6 percent of public high school students graduated in California in 2006-07. The state found 8.2 percent of students completed school or withdrew but were not considered dropouts or graduates because they transferred to a private school, earned a General Education Degree (GED) or left the state.
The 24.2 percent dropout rate is of great concern, O'Connell said.
"Twenty-four percent of students dropping out is not good news," he said in a statement. The more accurate data, he said, should lead to greater accountability and more focus on helping students complete school.
The state's new report contains data for counties, districts and schools across California. For more information, go to http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest.
Call The Bee's Deb Kollars, (916) 321-1090.
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