How does YOUR state measure up with Graduation Rates?

http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/understanding_HSgradrates

One link leads to another which leads to another... and for me they ended up here. Something I read said that the US still only graduates 75% of its public school students. I had to check that out. After all, NCLB has been around long enough to have made a difference, if it was going to, right?

PA graduates 80%. Of course, when broken down by race there is a 35% gap from highest to lowest, but when I first saw that figure I thought, "Go PA!" But then the reality of that figure set in and I just shook my head in disbelief. We fail to educate 1 in 5 kids in PA. The figures by municipalities are REALLY depressing. How is YOUR state doing?

I wonder if this is a good lesson somewhere. A writing prompt, maybe? "PA's dropout rate is 20%. What do YOU think are some of the reasons for that amount, and what needs to change in order to improve it? Prioritize your choices." Or, "Working with a partner, list five things that must change in order for PA's dropout rate to improve. Prioritize your choices."

Relevance? Authentic assessments and authentic audiences? Being able to learn based on individual learning styles? Having school at least RECOGNIZE the reality of new technologies and incorporate them into our lessons? What would they say, I wonder.

Posted in: dropout rate