New report on nation’s high school dropout crisis reveals signs of hope

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A new report reveals that progress has been made in schools, districts, communities and states across the country. Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic shows that when resources and determination are applied, progress is possible—even in lower-income areas, urban schools and rural districts that many previously deemed hopeless.

Earlier this year, President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a national goal for 90 percent of U.S. students to graduate from high school and complete at least one year of post-secondary education or training by 2020. The U.S. graduation rate has already increased nationwide from 72 percent in 2002 to 75 percent in 2008. The report also reveals that the number of “dropout factory” high schools fell by 13 percent—from 2,007 in 2002 to 1,746 in 2008. While these schools represent a small fraction of all public high schools in America, they account for about half of all high school dropouts each year. Experts say targeting these high schools for improvement is a critical part of turning around the nation’s dropout rate.
Other key findings of the report include the following:

• More than more than half of all states – 29 in total – increased their statewide graduation rate from 2002 to 2008.
• The state of Tennessee and New York City led the nation by boosting graduation rates 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
• Schools that see just 60 percent or fewer students graduate – known as “dropout factories” – fell by 13 percent, from 2,007 in 2002 to 1,746 in 2008.
• Most of the decline in dropout factories – 216 of the 261 – occurred in the South.

To continue rebuilding America’s broken education system, the Alliance is launching a Civic Marshall Plan to Build a Grad Nation. The plan outlines the benchmarks necessary to meet the goals of increasing the national graduation rate by an average of 1.5 percentage points per year during the next decade in order to meet the President’s goal of 90 percent graduation rates by 2020. It calls on policymakers, educators, business leaders, community allies, parents and student to mobilize and focus on the dropout factory high schools and play their role in increasing graduation rates and improving college- and workforce-readiness.

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