Twelve Senior Classes Under Jerry Weast Equals 16,800 Dropouts
According to "Education Week," the Montgomery County Public Schools have the highest graduation rate among the nation’s largest school districts. Click here to read the wonderful news.
I’m a realist and see both sides of everything. So, if 86 percent of MCPS high schoolers graduate from a typical class, then 14 percent dropped out, right? (Note: "Education Week" calculated its 86 percent graduation rate for the MCPS senior class of 2008. One can read more about the publication's "Diplomas Count" project by clicking here.)
Fourteen percent is a lot of students. A typical MCPS class or cohort is roughly 10,000 students. Fourteen percent equals 1,400 dropouts—which is a lot of students to lose along the way to their high school graduations.
Let’s provide a little perspective.
Damascus High, Northwood High, Rockville High, and Seneca Valley High each enroll approximately 1,400 students. Click here to check enrollments
Now, could any of us ever imagine Rockville High School not graduating any of its students for four straight years? Would we tolerate Rockville shutting down for an entire school year? Closing its doors on its 1,400 students? Of course not! And yet, that small 14 percent represents a building full of kids.
Fourteen hundred dropouts from a single class or cohort of MCPS kids is a lot of wasted futures. And if we add up the dropouts across multiple classes the numbers quickly sum to totals that are pretty shocking. Twelve senior classes under Superintendent Jerry Weast equals 16,800 dropouts.
So after celebrating the 86 percent—it is worth celebrating—is there anyone asking questions about what happened to the 14 percent that didn’t graduate? Where the heck do 1,400 students disappear to? I hope someone is asking questions. And I hope I’m not the only one alarmed by the raw number of dropouts.
Dana Tofig
6:19 pm on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Mr. Hawkins,
For a statistician who works for a distinguished organization like Westat, I’m surprised you would make such a rookie mistake when it comes to graduation rate.
As you pointed out, Education Week calculated MCPS’ graduation rate at 86 percent. However, as you are aware, the remaining 14 percent of the students are NOT all dropouts. Some are students who took longer than four years to graduate. Some are special educatio students who did not meet all the grad requirements, but met the expectations in their IEP.
Yes, some are dropouts and it is an issue that MCPS—and all school districts—continue to work on. Our Grade 9-12 dropout rate for the past 12 years has been about 2 percent—some years it is higher and some years it is lower, but on average, it is right around 2 percent. This has held steady even as the enrollment in our high schools has grown and changed dramatically. MCPS has programs and supports in place to help prevent students from dropping out and there are options for students who have dropped out to get their diploma.
Dr. Weast would be the first one to tell you that we still have work to do to ensure ALL of our students are engaged in meaningful work that prepares them for college and the work place. But, clearly, MCPS is having more success in this area than most districts in the nation. As someone who calls for transparency in data, I thought your data could use a little transparency, too.
Dana Tofig, MCPS
Theresa Defino
9:17 pm on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Mr. Hawkins, thank you for this column. Perhaps you made an assumption, but I wouldn't insult you by calling it a "rookie mistake" and accusing you of not being transparent (these aren't your numbers so how could you be transparent about MCSP data? Hmmm!).
So, Dana, please provide specific percentages that address each category of student, so that we can see exactly what happened to the 12% that you say are not dropouts.
For example, how many graduated after five years or longer? How many "met the expectations of their IEP" but did not graduate? I don't think MCPS' special ed population is 12%. Also, some children with IEPs, expect, and DO graduate.
I'd like to point out that for thousands of MCPS students who had the good fortune of attending Thomas Edison High School of Technology throughout the years, including my son (who is not special ed), graduation is an achievable goal. Funny that Dr. Weast would try to downsize into oblivion the one school in the entire county that exists solely to provide an alternative to the all-classroom school day. And before the judgment is made: yes, my son is going to college.
Lyda Astrove
12:37 pm on Thursday, June 16, 2011
Oops, a "rookie mistake" from the Public Information Office at MCPS. Some special education students do graudate with regular diplomas. Other special education students graduate with what is called a "certificate of attendance" at the end of the school year in which they turn 21. This "certificate" does not, repeat, NOT certify that they have met their IEP goals. Rather, it is exactly what it says: a certificate of attendance. If a student "ages out" with a certifiate of attendance, they are counted as having "completed" their education, and thus are not "drop-outs."
If, on the other hand, a special education student leaves school BEFORE THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IN WHICH THEY TURN 21 with only a certificate of attendance, they ARE considered by MSDE to be drop outs. Unfortunately, this happens more often than MCPS would like to admit. For example, remember when MCPS claimed they didn't know what happened to a certain percentage of Mark Twain students?
L
Joseph Hawkins
1:55 pm on Thursday, June 16, 2011
In reality, I don't know how many dropouts there are. I would bet my life, however, that it is a very LARGE number--north of 10,000 kids over the tenure of Superintendent Weast. I also would bet that the dropouts are mostly kids of color, with many either poor or special education. And these are kids that do not end up in college or gainfully employed. But instead of debating what we know or do not know, I offer the following challenge: hire an impartial outside researcher (via a completive and open bid process) and give them the job of figuring all this out. I believe the last time MCPS officially study dropouts was back in the early 1990's. Isn't it time to update the science of what we really know about MCPS dropouts?
Joseph Hawkins