Study Finds Graduation Data Skewed

Most States Report False, Lofty High School Graduation Rates

(AP)  The federal government acknowledges that the lack of uniformity in graduation and dropout rates is a problem that confuses parents and casts doubt about how well schools are doing.

An Education Department task force has recommended that states track each group of ninth-graders to determine whether every student graduates in four years.

But many states say they don't yet have systems to do that, or to distinguish between students who transfer and those who drop out. The department is now studying interim methods states may be able to use to improve their reporting.

"We are very concerned that the graduation data doesn't accurately reflect what's truly happening in the states," said department spokeswoman Susan Aspey. "The secretary has been highlighting the magnitude of high dropout rates as she presses the case for high school reform ... It's absolutely vital that states get the necessary systems in place so parents and the public know the true extent of the dropout problem."

Haycock, though, said states have been allowed to skirt the dropout issue "under cover of a negligent U.S. Department of Education."

Most states have made a mockery of the requirement to raise graduation rates, she said, as 34 have set goals lower than the graduation rates they say they've already achieved.

At least two states, Alaska and Washington, have begun estimating their graduation rates more accurately, resulting in lower figures, The Education Trust found.

The group praised those states for honesty but singled out others for criticism.

North Carolina, for example, gets its rate by measuring the percentage of graduates who finish in four years. Under that method, the state reported a whopping 97 percent graduation rate. But because only graduates are reviewed, the state doesn't count a single dropout.

That will change next year when North Carolina begins reporting the percentage of ninth-graders who graduate on time, said Janice Davis, the state's interim superintendent of public instruction. In the meantime, she said, the state is accurately reporting what it measures, but also is aware that its measure "is misleading, and that is our not our intent."