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School Board Questions Accuracy of Reports

Hartford school board members Tuesday aggressively questioned the accuracy of new statistics and reports showing dropout and graduation rates and the percentage of students going to college.

District administrators agreed that some of the statistics are misleading - such as the one showing how many Hartford students go to college. But those pertaining to the dropout rate, they said, follow a state formula and can be adjusted to reflect more detailed information requested by board members.

On the matter of the college-bound students, board members balked at a figure in the latest Strategic School Profile declaring that 80.5 percent of Hartford's students graduating in 2002 pursued higher education while the statewide percentage was 79.7.

"I wish this many kids went to community college," said board member Elizabeth Brad Noel. "But I don't believe that."

Board Chairman I. Michael Borrero underscored that point, saying, "At this point, our credibility is important."

"When people are looking at our data about students going to college, they really are laughing," he said, referring to Mayor Eddie A. Perez, who is focusing on increasing the number of students going to college.

Deputy Superintendent Jaime Aquino said the percentage was based on self-reporting by students who filled out a survey on their intentions after graduation. The district did not follow up to see if the students actually enrolled.

Several board members suggested a study to see how many students did go on to college. Superintendent Robert Henry suggested that the board form a committee to work with administrators on that study, and Borrero consented.

Board members also were skeptical of graduation and dropout figures. For example, Elease E. Wright said she could not understand how a breakdown by high school of the annual graduation rate could show 103.8 percent of Weaver students and 102.1 percent of Sport Sciences Academy graduating in 2003.

Administrators said those numbers, along with the figures for the other high schools, include students who had been held back in their junior year and managed to take extra credits to graduate with their class.

Noel and other members said they want to see data that single out those members of a class that enter high school in the ninth grade, never stay back and graduate four years later - in June, not August after summer school.

Borrero said, "We want to make good policies, and to do that we need good data."

Henry said administrators were following state guidelines for data reporting, but that they could break out the details that the board sought.

Board members also were confused by different annual graduation rates reported using the federal No Child Left Behind formula, which showed 66.3 percent of students graduated in 2003, and the state formula, which showed that 96.4 percent of the students graduated the same year.

Aquino said the higher percentage reflects the number of students eligible for graduation - seniors and juniors who were just a few credits shy of being seniors at the beginning of the year - who actually graduated.

The lower percentage factors in those who dropped out of the Class of 2003 in any year - freshman through senior - as students moved toward graduation. The conflicting numbers, he said, reflect the differences in the state and federal formulas.

The dropout rate - as opposed to the graduation rate - showed improvement over previous years. The annual dropout rate, which reflects the number of students who drop out in a single year, decreased from 6.2 percent in 2002 to 4.1 percent in 2003.

And the cumulative rate, which shows the number of students that drop out of a graduating class over four years, went down to 22 percent in 2003 from 30 percent in the previous year.

Here again, board members questioned the accuracy of the numbers. For example, Noel questioned a breakdown by school showing Weaver High School's annual dropout rate dropping from 11 percent in 2002 to 2.8 percent last year.

"I have some questions about whether I believe that," she said. "Something doesn't seem right."

Officials said the number reflects better record-keeping and investigations into whether students truly dropped out or moved or transferred schools.

The city's dropout statistics do not include students who drop out of the high schools in order to attend credit-granting courses in the adult education program. The district does not keep track of whether the students drop out of the adult education program in order to count them in the dropout rate, said Gloria DeJesus, the district's director of assessment.

Borrero said he understands that school officials are following state guidelines in their record-keeping, but he said his board wants more information.

Board Secretary Ada M. Miranda said, "It will take a little more effort from the staff to produce the report we're most interested in."


— Rachel Gottlieb
School Board Struggles To Find Reality
Hartford Courant
2003-12-17
http://www.ctnow.com/news/education/hc-dropout1216.artdec17,1,908562.story?coll=hc-headlines-education

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