History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Graduation rate is no guarantee of learning
- 11-01-2011
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Blog by Walt Gardner/Education Week
Whenever reformers want to score points about their bleak view of the state of K-12 education, they invariably cite data showing that only 76 percent of students in public schools graduate within four years of entering the 9th grade. Before going any further, however, I hasten to point out that four-year graduation studies are not the same thing as dropout studies. Although they are related, they have to be viewed differently. For example, students may not graduate on time because of illness, family problems or incarceration. Too many reformers automatically assume that academic failure is the only factor or that teachers are not doing their job. This is a common mistake. Compounding the misunderstanding of the issue is that states report data differently. But even as states move to adopt a uniform formula developed by the U.S. Department of Education (the number of graduates in a given year divided by the number of students who enrolled four years earlier), the results may still not mean what they seem. (more...)
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