About that 81-percent graduation rate...

In a series examining the nation's 81-percent high school graduation rate, NPR looks at numerous fixes schools use to boost numbers, from well-intentioned to irresponsible. For instance, many Chicago high schools mislabel students who leave before graduating, listing them as moving away or attending private schools when in fact they enroll in district alternative or GED programs. One school classified 120 students from a single class as leaving to be home-schooled; this type of mislabeling is a national problem. Another is credit recovery, online programs for students who must recoup credits after failing or missing requirements. Detroit's programs are typical, where a handful of students work at computers and a teacher sits and supervises. Many teachers express ambivalence about credit recovery, often the only thing keeping students from dropping out but with courses of lower quality, shorter and easier than traditional courses. Ninety percent of American districts use credit recovery. Finally -- exit exams. New Jersey students failing a first-round high school exit exam, for example, can take a second, easier, untimed one. If they fail this, they can appeal. Since functionally, the mandatory exam is no longer a barrier to graduation, why have it? These are just several of 14 backstories to the touted 81 percent national graduation rate that NPR examines. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

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Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.