Texas Teens Cover - Senate

______________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 5 JANUARY 2001
Texas does not currently calculate a status dropout rate, which looks at
individuals within a certain age range to determine the number of dropouts. For
example, persons between the
ages of 16 and 24 would be
surveyed to determine the
number of persons who are not
enrolled in school and do not
have a diploma, within that
population. But, status rates are
often ambiguous because they are
based on population estimates. A
completion rate shows the
number of students under a
certain age who have completed
high school. This rate could be
manipulated by including
students who do not graduate
from high school but, for
example, receive GEDs or
complete all of the requirements
for graduation but do not pass the
TAAS.
In 1987, the 70th Legislature
required the TEA to prepare
biennial reports on the number of
public school dropouts and to
provide each legislature with a
plan for reducing the dropout
rate. The legislature set a goal of
a longitudinal state dropout rate
of not more than five percent by
the 1997-1998 school year for
students enrolled in 7th thru 12th
grade. The legislature also set a
cross-sectional state longitudinal
dropout rate of not more than five
percent, meaning the longitudinal
dropout rates for each ethnic
group should be less than five
percent. In 1997-1998, TEA
reported an actual longitudinal
dropout rate of 14.7 percent, 9
percent for white students, 18.9 percent for African-American students, 20.4
percent for Hispanic students, and 7.6 percent for other students. 5
Texas Data Gathering on Dropouts
Dropout Rates
There are a number of methods for determining the dropout
rate, including the following:
Annual Dropout (Event) Rate: the number of students, in
grades 7 through 12, who leave school each year without
completing a high school program. TEA calculates the annual
dropout rate by “dividing the number of dropouts by cumulative
enrollment in Grades 7-12.” This rate is used by TEA.
Longitudinal (Cohort) Rate: the total percentage of students
from a class that drop out before completing their high school
education. This figure can be actual or estimated. This rate is
used by TEA.
Status Rate: the number of individuals within a certain age
range who are dropouts. A status dropout rate, for example,
would look at the number of individuals between the ages of 16
and 24 who are not enrolled in school and have not received a
high school diploma. Status rates “reveal the extent of the
dropout problem in the population.” This rate is used by
NCES.
Completion Rate: this rate is calculated by tracking a class of
9th grade students over a given period of time and determining
the percentage of students who graduated, received a GED, or
continued to be enrolled. This is a positive indicator, rather
than a negative one. This rate is used by TEA.
Attrition Rate: Compares the beginning and ending
enrollments, over a four-year period, as an estimate of how
many students leave the system. This figure is calculated by
subtracting the 12th grade enrollment from the 9th grade
enrollment four years earlier, with assumptions made about the
number of students who moved out of the district. This rate is
used by the Intercultural Development Research Association.
Sources: Testimony by Criss Cloudt before the Senate
Interim Committee on Education, Austin, October 12,
1999; U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics, Dropout Rates in the United
States: 1997, Washington, D.C., 1999.
______________________________________________________________________________________
SENATE RESEARCH CENTER Safe Passages: Texas Teens on the Road to Adulthood - 87