Not completing school remains a problem

The Louisiana Department of Education released data last Wednesday stating that a dropout rate of 3.5 percent for students in grades 7-12 during the 2009-2010 school year was a 1.3 percent improvement from the number of public school dropouts the previous academic season.

LDOE officials praised the system for its improved statistics and state superintendent of education Paul Pastorek said they have set a goal of attaining a Cohort graduation rate of 80 percent by the year 2014. It is currently below 70 percent.

The Cohort graduation rate is one of several systems officials use to determine dropout and graduation rates. The problem, many educators contend, is that each method of calculation offered different results, and still does not address the problem.

Superintendents and teachers working every day with students contend that state officials might be attempting, however they can, to paint a rosy picture on a less than satisfactory situation.

While an annual dropout rate, one of the methods used to calculate dropouts, refers to the number and percentage of students that leave school in a given year, the Cohort measurement tracks a group of students for four years beginning in the ninth grade. It also does not count those that return to adult education classes or eventually secure a GED as dropouts.

“These are substantial improvements,” Pastorek said. “We won’t consider our work complete until every student chooses to stay in school.”

According to LDOE statistics, the levels with the greatest number of dropouts statewide are the 9th and 10th grades.

In Terrebonne Parish the 2009-10 dropout rate based on strict numbers and percentages was 3.3 percent for grade 9, 4.1 percent for grade 10, 11.4 percent for grade 11 and 9.1 percent among students in grade 12. The aggregated dropout rate, which calculates groups of a student population as a whole, for grades 9-12 was 7.3 percent during the same time period.

St. Mary Parish listed 4.5 percent of grade 9 students as dropouts using the numbers and percentage method, grade 10 figures finished at 8.6 percent, a level of 6.9 percent was listed for dropouts in grade 11 and grade 12 dropouts accounted for 12.7 percent of the student census in 2009-2010. The aggregated dropout rate for grades 9-12 was 7.8 percent.

Lafourche Parish saw the 2009-10 school year list number and percentage levels of 2.7 percent dropouts in grade 9, 2.8 percent in grade 10, 7.9 percent in grade 11 and 8.5 percent in grade 12. The aggregated tabulation listed a 5.2 percent dropout rate for students in grades 9-12 during that school year.

State dropout levels using these two methods of measurement posted a dropout rate during the 2009-2010 school year of 7.7 percent for grade 9, 6 percent for grade 10, 6.3 percent for grade 11 and 7.1 percent for grade 12 based on the number and percentage approach. The aggregated number was 6.9 percent for combined grades 9-12.

“The dropout rate has decreased statewide and that’s a good thing, but it is still a significant problem in Terrebonne Parish and statewide,” said Terrebonne School District Superintendent Philip Martin. “A lack of a high school diploma adds a significant weight to the individual and the overall community, as well when you have a significant number of the population without a high school diploma.”

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2000, population profiles revealed that in Terrebonne Parish only 36 percent of the population has a high school diploma. That number increased to 38 percent in both Lafourche and St. Mary Parishes.

Some teachers contend that historically, coastal parish students have found the draw of high incomes working on fishing boats or training for offshore jobs that pay better than many degreed professions more than appealing and reason enough to end their public school careers early.

“There is no one reason for the dropout rate, and there is no one reason the dropout rate improved,” Martin said. “The most significant one is that while the number of dropouts is decreasing in Terrebonne Parish it is because more kids are entering high school prepared for high school.”

Martin said that the seeds of a dropout take root long before a student walks through the high school doors. “If a child enters high school with significant deficits in reading ability and computation ability they are not going to be successful in high school. That is what leads to a dropout,” he said.

As for the state methods of calculating dropouts, Martin said that there are too many used in too many ways and they fail as a result to offer an accurate picture of what is and is not taking place in the state’s public schools.

“What I would like to see is a standardization. So when we refer to a dropout rate we are talking apples vs. apples,” Martin said. “If I calculate one way for one district and use another methodology for another district, one may appear better than another when in fact they are only better based on the methodology used.”

Martin said the only way to adequately address the issue of dropouts is to take into consideration that each student is different and must be evaluated as such. “We have 19,000 kids and no two are the same,” he said. “Many children who are struggling in school lack support in many areas. We have to figure out what’s needed. There is a combination for each kid, not just one for every kid.”

Martin said if more attention were given to finding ways for students to encounter success early on, the dropout issue would be better addressed. “It has improved, but we’ve got a long way to go,” he said.

Based on recent calculations from the National Center for Education Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Education, during 2007 and 2008 Louisiana ranked highest in the nation for public school dropouts each year.

Donna Benoit teaches Algebra I to eighth grade students at Houma Junior High School and hopes these youths will take their education seriously to complete their public school careers and help reduce the number of dropouts documented in Louisiana. MIKE NIXON