Fewer schools deemed 'dropout factories'
By Caralee Adams/Education Week
The number of U.S. schools with such poor graduation rates that they are known as "dropout factories" fell by 6.4 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a report released today. In 2008, the nation had 1,746 schools with graduation rates no higher than 60 percent. That number fell by 112, to 1,634, the following year. From 2008 to 2009, there were 183,701 fewer students attending these low-performing schools, an 8 percent drop. The numbers are detailed in an update to the November 2010 report "Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic." The update is being rolled out in conjunction with the Building a Grad Nation Summit in Washington this week. (more...)