Graduation Rates

The Washington Post had an article in today's Southern Maryland section titled Graduation Rates Called Into Question

A new online database of graduation rates indicates more than one in three high school students in St. Mary's County drop out, a major deviation from the county's 87.2 percent official graduation rate reported by the state.

Ouch! That hurt! CHarles and Calvert's deviations were minute compared to this. I also found the below articles at the Center for Public Education web-site. (Click on the title to read the complete article.)

Keeping kids in school: Lessons from research about preventing dropouts

In recent years, states have focused much attention on student achievement, but little on how many students ultimately leave school with a diploma in hand. This is changing: Nearly every governor has pledged to develop tougher ways to measure graduation rates at the same time that the No Child Left Behind Act has begun requiring states to hold schools and districts accountable for the results.

And this article, Dropouts: Myths v. Realities, was also interesting.