9486 in the collection
Half of New York City Highschoolers Graduate on Schedule
Note the difference in headlines of New York papers
New York Post: DROPOUT FIASCO
New York Daily News: Graduation Rate in City Just 50%
New York Times: Miniscule Dip in Dropout Rate, but Many Graduate Late
Miniscule Dip in Dropout Rate, but Many Graduate Late
by Abby Goodnough
The percentage of students who dropped out of New York City high schools declined minutely last year, the Education Department said yesterday, even as only half of those scheduled to graduate last June did so.
The report did not factor in a large group of students — about 20 percent of the total ninth graders in 1998 — whom it classified as discharged. Those students disappeared from New York City schools before graduation, supposedly because they moved to other districts or enrolled in general equivalency diploma programs.
While the overall dropout rate fell to 20.3 percent, from 20.4 percent, the rates for Asian, Hispanic and white students actually climbed slightly. Only the dropout rate for black students fell, to 22.1 percent from 22.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the department found that students were taking longer to graduate. A new study found that only 50.8 percent of the intended class of 2002 graduated on time, down from 51 percent of the class of 2001. That left 28.9 percent of the class in high school for a fifth year, including disproportionate numbers of immigrants struggling with English.
The highest dropout rate in Manhattan was 31 percent at Park West High School; in the Bronx, 37 percent at Taft High School; in Brooklyn, 50.8 percent at Harry Van Arsdale High School; in Queens, 31 percent at Franklin K. Lane High School; and in Staten Island, 8.6 percent at New Dorp High School.
The Education Department put dropout statistics for special-education students, who left school at higher rates, in a separate category. Just over 30 percent of students who were scheduled to graduate last June and attended self-contained special-education classes dropped out, while only 9.6 percent graduated on time, the report found.
Advocates have long charged that many city schools quietly discharge struggling students without making sure that they enroll elsewhere.
Chancellor Joel I. Klein released the dropout study on the same day that New York State released figures showing that more students statewide were meeting the tough new graduation standards by passing four required Regents exams.
Of the class scheduled to graduate last June, 89 percent statewide passed the English exam on time, 86 percent passed the math exam, 88 percent passed the global history exam and 85 percent passed the American history exam.
Starting this year, students must also pass a fifth exam, in science, to graduate.
As in past years, the state data showed that New York City students had a significantly harder time passing all the required exams than their counterparts elsewhere in the state.
— Abby Goodnough
Miniscule Dip in Dropout Rate, but Many Graduate Late
New York Times
April 11, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/education/11SCHO.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
