Students Less Likely To Graduate H.S.

(AP)  Your child is less likely to graduate from high school than you were, and most states are doing little to hold schools accountable, according to a study by a children's advocacy group.

More than half the states have graduation goals that don't make schools get better, the Education Trust says in a report released Thursday.

And dropout rates haven't budged: One in four kids is dropping out of high school.

"The U.S. is stagnating while other industrialized countries are surpassing us," said Anna Habash, author of the report by Education Trust, which advocates on behalf of minority and poor children. "And that is going to have a dramatic impact on our ability to compete," she said.

In fact, the United States is now the only industrialized country where young people are less likely than their parents to earn a diploma, the report said.

High schools are required to meet graduation targets every year as part of the 2002 federal No Child Left Behind law.

But those targets are set by states, not by the federal government. And most states allow schools to graduate low percentages of students by saying that any progress, or even the status quo in some cases, is acceptable.

For example:

In North Carolina, schools must improve by 0.1 percentage point each year. At that rate, it would take nearly a century to raise the graduation rate, now 72 percent, to the state goal of 80 percent.

In Maryland, schools must improve by 0.01 percentage point each year. At that rate, it would take most of a millennium for the graduation rate among African-American students, now 79 percent, to reach the state goal of 85.5 percent.

In Delaware and New Mexico, schools will never have to meet a state graduation goal as long as they manage to maintain the same graduation rate. Delaware's graduation rate is 76 percent; New Mexico's is 67 percent.

Why are states setting the bar so low?

Because they can, said Bob Balfanz, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

State and school officials are under pressure to improve test scores under the No Child Left Behind education law or else face penalties. But they got a break on graduation rates: Schools have to meet annual goals, but the government lets each state set its own goal.

"A lot of states said, `Well, we're under a lot of pressure; let's not make this too hard on ourselves,"' Balfanz said. "They were given a loophole, and they took it."

So in North Carolina - which has won praise for a series of innovations to keep kids in school - the graduation goal has not changed. Officials are coming up with a new goal but are hoping that No Child Left Behind will be rewritten to be less punitive.

"To be candid, we're waiting for NCLB to change," said June Atkinson, North Carolina's state schools superintendent. "Those numbers do not tell the story. Our mission is that 100 percent of our students will graduate from high school. Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do."

In Maryland, officials say their slower goal is more realistic.

"If you really want to bring about change, you have to have reachable goals that people believe they can work toward," said Ronald A. Peiffer, Maryland's deputy superintendent for academic policy.

"By not making these numbers pie-in-the-sky, I think we have a better chance," Peiffer said.

Graduation rates take longer to improve than test scores, because a child's educational experience must be transformed over a period of years, Peiffer said.

The U.S. was slow to realize it was facing a dropout crisis. For years, researchers reported dropouts as the number of kids who quit school in 12th grade, failing to capture those who left high school earlier.

States and schools clouded the picture by using a mishmash of different methods to keep track of students who graduated, transferred or dropped out.

Then came the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, with its requirement that states meet graduation goals. In 2005, the nation's governors made a pact to adopt a common system of tracking graduation rates.

Now the federal government is poised to raise the bar on graduation rates. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is expected to issue new rules next week that will force states to use the common tracking system and will judge schools not only on graduation rates but on the percentage of black and Hispanic students who graduate, too.

Among minority students, more than one in three students drops out of school.

Spellings proposed the new rules earlier this year. Final rules may differ somewhat, but Spellings said earlier that states would be required in most cases to count graduates as kids who leave high school on time and with a regular diploma.

Critics have worried that by judging test scores more heavily and graduation less so, No Child Left Behind encouraged schools to push weak students out.

Balfanz, the Johns Hopkins researcher, said the dropout problem is driven by "dropout factories," schools in poor communities where kids face challenges inside and outside the classroom.

He argued the government could make a big dent in the dropout problem by plowing more money, and firm guidance on how to spend it, into those schools.

More resources are desperately needed, said Mel Riddle, who retired in July as principle of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va.

"The world's changed; we have to change to meet those demands," said Riddle, now an official of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "To think we can do it in the same way, with the same resources, is not realistic."

[dooney8]

Why should kids graduate if they know they can''t go to college? The only jobs you can get with a HS diploma are the same jobs you can get without any education at all. Then you have to compete with Mexicans who are willing to the job for half the pay.

[mumu11]

Culling is barbaric & wasteful. We need to educate ALL our kids with methods matching their talents. One size doesn''t fit all and the methods appropriate for teaching kids who have visual, auditory, tactile or kinetic learning tendencies are different (yes that means grouping kids according to learning style). It has been proven, study after study, that concentrating on the core skills (math and English) is counter productive. Many children can''t acquire pattern recognition and problem solving strategies unless they learn them through other subjects such as Music, gymnastics or even chess playing.
-The 1st thing Napoleon III (of France) did to go from president to emperor, was the suppression of History and Geography in schools. A population ignorant of it''s past and of it''s place in the world is an easy prey for manipulators and would be dictators foreign or domestic. You want a democracy? Teach them in school.
-English only has hindered the USA both in international commerce and relations and made our intelligence second class (remember 9-11?). When everyone speaks your language, but you don''t speak theirs, they can sc.. you. Even W got it encouraged soldiers and students to study of one or more foreign language.

[mitch5511]

runningralph...you are a sad, sad person! Education should be a culling process?? I think you should have been culled a very long time ago!

Education is a "learning" process. Children need to learn ALL the facts, not "propaganda" pushed by the neocon rightwads!

[wl7bzh]

When a teacher can''t correct or tell a child no it becomes almost to teach

[runningralph]

Education should be a culling process. Teach children to compete fairly. The curriculum should impart real knowledge, not propaganda. It should be at a level where the majority can pass with study. Failure rate should be 4-5%. Liberal policies will erode the whole system. Competition is a fact of life. Without competition the survival of the unfittest will destroy a society.

[mainedoggie]

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Dropping out isn''t the end of the world. I know from personal experience a kid who dropped out because of a nasty family situation -- mother dead, father usually drunk. She couldn''''t hack the rigor of high school but managed on her own to get a GED and a college education. She''s doing OK now. High school isn''''t always the best place for a kid to thrive.

Posted by spinner49
====================

No, it''s not the end of the world.

But for a family like the trashy Palins, who are running for VP.... 2 dropouts in the immediate family is pretty disgusting. It just goes to show how much the Palins care about education... not much.

BTW, a 25% drop out rate in the US is pretty freakin'' sad.

[cble11]

The dedication of teachers and school officials can''t be measured by mandates. Having a goal of 90% won''t change our efforts; we already work tirelessly to keep every child in school.
Imagine a workplace where you''re teaching 11 year-old with the stated goal of dropping out, a percentage of each class has been diagnosed with emotional disorders, and if you need any supplies (even ink for your printer!), you''re told to purchase it on your own. Imagine being physically assaulted or cursed at by students who face no consequences because they are special education students and can only be punished 10 days a year before the school is in trouble with the state.

Trust me, we''re doing the best we can in these tough environments, and we preach "college, college, college" consistently.

The difference between this generation and the preceding generation is not decreased effort on the part of educators; it is the changing attitudes on the part of parents and the lack of real consequences for students.

Please, America, encourage your representatives to stand up for teachers and students by providing adequate funding and calling for students to shoulder the burden, as well.

[lfnewby]

Forget union protection. How many of you would take my job? I love my kids, but I go to work and face 25-28 teenagers crowded into a room, along with their backpacks and jackets. A vast majority are absolutely wonderful, and I can watch them learn to appreciate the complexities of our world. But some kids are miserable at taking tests -- without pressure, they can explain the cause of the French Revolution or discuss the role of nationalism in World War One -- but they "fail" because they miss the cutoff score from a standardized test by one point. For all of the "experts" and for all of the "critics," please imagine that child''s face. That broken heart follows most teachers across the years. For many of the best teachers, this mechanized and ineffective testing system is the reason that they leave. If we cannot teach for success, if we are not able to help students find a way to learn that matches their own abilities and learning styles - then why are we teaching?

[Looking2Learn]

My oldest son dropped out of high school four months before his graduation date. He had been getting an A in his advanced English class when a new teacher came in and changed the course requirements. He had moved out of his father''s house, was sleeping in a friend''s basement and working thirty hours a week. He had stayed in the same town in order to graduate from the same school.

He asked the school if there was any way he could take a correspondence class; although it was available, they wouldn''t let him. Given the option of one more trimester and getting a GED, he left.

The GED is much harder than it was a few years ago. And while I made it clear, and he accepted, that he should have never gotten into the position--he should have taken more courses in the preceding years--I agree that the school should have offered more help.

He moved in with me. He worked at a warehouse. The day before they had to give him benefits, he was "let go". The experience did something for him, though...he agreed to go back to school. The school in our area totaled his credits. He needed two. They offer an online program for students who are returning or need an extra class to graduate on time. He went to class three hours a day. He finished high school in three weeks.

Bottom line: Schools need to help students who are willing to help themselves.

[lfnewby]

For those of your who cling to the myth of the power of the mighty education unions, please come to the South. I teach in Georgia. Our "teacher representatives" have no influence over state education policies -- NONE. We are faced with Federal mandates over No Child Left Behind, yet our systems don''t receive any funding for those requirements from the Feds, so that money comes out of our instruction accounts. So, instead of hands-on activities and field trips -- which encourage a love for learning and allow for the various learning styles of students -- we now force all kids to take the same "bubble" test, even if they don''t speak the language or are terrible test takers. Unions might be able to speak up for the student who can explain an issue but who panics when looking at bubble choices.