The Dropout Factories

A analysis of US Dept of Education data by researchers Johns Hopkins for the Associated Press, has caught attention by labeling schools with very high dropout rates as "dropout factories". Media hype aside (one wonders if the study had not been done FOR Associated Press if the pejorative term would have used) the web posting on te local NBC affiliates site had this telling quote -

"Education researchers said specialized programs such as the ninth-grade academies at Hartford's high schools have shown promise in reversing dropout rates.

Other initiatives getting good marks include strong mentoring programs, after-school community programs and alternative schools that focus on special topics or practical skills that interest students and make them want to stay enrolled. Several schools also are bolstering their elementary-school reading programs, saying that students who fall behind as preteens may become so frustrated by their freshman year that they give up in disgust and leave.

"One of the indicators we ask schools to look at is the reading level of every third-grader, and to look at that statistic hard and fast," said Jay Smink, executive director of the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson University.

"For every kid that's not at grade level, you'd better initiate an intervention immediately or you'll be writing a dropout ticket for them, come ninth grade," he said.

Here is the link - http://www.nbc30.com/news/14452864/detail.html?dl=headlineclick

Cross posted in Life in the Fast Lane