Tulsa World: Some dropouts are left out of state's official tally

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Some dropouts are left out of state's official tally

Source: Oklahoma State Department of Education

By GAVIN OFF Data Editor
Published: 3/1/2009 2:19 AM
Last Modified: 3/1/2009 4:53 AM

Related Stories: Dropping back in

Dropout rates in Tulsa declining

More than 120 students dropped out of Tulsa County middle schools during the 2006-07 school year, state data show. Yet each middle school recorded a 0 percent dropout rate in Oklahoma Department of Education records.

Although the Department of Education counts each dropout, it doesn't include all of them when calculating a school's dropout rate.

Under state regulations, the department excludes students who haven't reached ninth grade or are 19 years or older.

As a result, more than 1,030 dropouts in Oklahoma were left out of the 2006-07 dropout rate calculations, according to Tulsa World analysis of Department of Education data.

Spokeswoman Shelly Hickman said the education department follows state and federal regulations regarding its dropout rate calculations.

Hickman added: "Middle school children are not able to drop out. If they are not attending school, they are considered truants and their parents subject to prosecution by the district attorney."

But thousands of middle school students do drop out each year, and many states include them in their calculations.

The limitations states put on dropout rates make the state-reported rate for some schools look lower than it actually is, said Albert Cortez, director of policy for the Intercultural Development Research Association, a San Antonio nonprofit aimed at improving public schools.

"You can try to sweep it under the rug, and you can try to manipulate those numbers, but the reality is those folks are still living in your community," Cortez said. "It's not like dropouts disappear."

Cortez said dropouts have higher unemployment rates, higher incarceration rates and higher job training costs. Also, they usually earn less and contribute less to a community's tax base, he said.

Young dropouts

Nearly every state has its own way of calculating a school's dropout rate.

Oklahoma refers to the rate as the "number of students enrolled in grades nine through 12 under the age of 19 who drop out of school annually."

But that sometimes leaves schools with incomplete data.

The difference is often small, but it can be significant when it comes to perception, said Jay Smink, executive director for the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network at South Carolina's Clemson University.

"If you're telling me that you don't count a dropout before ninth grade, that's a bad thing," Smink said. "If you want an accurate number of who's dropping out, that will skew your data."

More than 100 elementary and middle schools in Oklahoma recorded at least one dropout during the 2006-07 year, a Tulsa World analysis found. In all, more than 500 non-high school students left school that year.

At least four Oklahoma City middle schools — Taft, Oklahoma Centennial, Jackson and Emerson Alternative Education — had dropout rates higher than the 2005-06 national public high school average of 3.9 percent, according to a World analysis.

Older dropouts

To find the dropout rate, the Tulsa World divided a school's total dropouts by its total enrollment for that year. Unlike the Department of Education, the World counted dropouts who did not reach ninth grade and those 19 or older.

Hickman said that even though older students aren't included in a school's dropout rate, they are counted against a school's graduation rate.

"We follow state law and federal (No Child Left Behind) regulations in regard to dropout reporting and calculations," she said in an e-mail.

No Child Left Behind, which was created in 2001, does not limit dropouts to a certain age but specifies criteria for graduation rates. Unlike dropout rates, which are calculated by using data from a single year, graduation rates look at the number of students who begin their freshmen year and graduate four years later.

In all, 525 students 19 or older dropped out of Oklahoma high schools, data show. None were included in the dropout rate calculations.

Some officials outside Oklahoma said they didn't see the benefit of such an age limit.

Under Colorado law, students who reach the age of 21 are automatically considered dropouts, even if they remain in school.

Likewise, the National Center for Education Statistics, which operates within the U.S. Department of Education, does not confine dropouts to a certain age. Neither do most other states.

"He can stay in school as long as he wants," said Tom Ogle with the Missouri Department of Education. "But he's a dropout when he drops out."

Alternative degrees

According to Oklahoma regulations, students who leave school to get their GED are not considered dropouts.

The National Center for Education Statistics also excludes certified GED earners from dropout rate calculations.

But some states have taken a harder look at GED recipients.

Arizona calculates dropout rates for seventh- through 12th-graders, doesn't have an age limit and includes those who get their GED.

Bob Coccagna, Arizona's director of dropout prevention and high school renewal, said the state includes GED recipients in its dropout rate calculations to emphasize the importance of a standard high school education.

He said including a wider range of students allows Arizona to better target areas that need improvement.

"If you don't know what the number is, you don't know what the problem is," Coccagna said. "On one hand people don't like to display that information because it makes them look bad, but the transparency is important."

Gavin Off 732-8106
gavin.off@tulsaworld.com

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	Report Comment Popeye, T-Town (3/1/2009 7:19:34 AM) Why do we allow any school-age child to drop out? Why is this even legal? Talk about an expense to the State and taxpayers; these kids are almost certain to become a financial burden. Instead of spending time putting monuments up at the Capital, we should be passing laws to keep every child 18 and under in school, period!
	Report Comment Lebron23, tulsa (3/1/2009 7:33:36 AM) i once talked to this dude and he told me he dropped out in the 8th grade.What will he have to do?
	Report Comment chase, rogers county (3/1/2009 7:53:01 AM) Why do we allow any school=age child to drop out?Popeye,I don't know,let's ask their parents,Why do parents let their kids drop out of school,can anyone of you explain why you let them give up on themselves.
	Report Comment WilliamTheArtist, (3/1/2009 9:15:30 AM) I remember hearing that if a student is "dropping out" and the counselor asks the student if they plan on getting a GED, Oklahoma doesnt count it as a drop out. Though statistically most of these students who say yes, don't ever get their GED's. If this is true, our actual drop out rates are likely higher.
	Report Comment honestabe, (3/1/2009 9:32:39 AM) Folks, once again it's the accountablily office at TPS who encourages lying. We are to count the dropped out child as going to "home schooling". This is what we tell the parents to do. There are no laws or policies concerning children who are home schooled and this doesn't count against the drop-out rate. A woman quoted in the article is the one who tells the counselors to lie. She is also the one cooking the books of the testing, telling people in Tulsa not to correct the state when they either make a mistake of collude with her to cook the books. I can't wait for Jolly's audit and investigation. By the way, this woman keeps getting promoted. Wake up Tulsa!
	Report Comment Sunshineinttown, (3/1/2009 10:11:27 AM) TPS is not the only school that encourages lying in their records to make themselves look good. The no child left behind act has caused many schools to lie to retain funding. BAPS is very good (bad) at documenting items to make the system appear they have no drop outs. Do we blame Bush for the No child left behind Act. No, we place blame (IMO) on the people administering the programs. School administration
	Report Comment debbiewade, Tulsa (3/1/2009 10:13:16 AM) Wow! There are a lot of sterotypes about those who drop out of school. Here's a different view: You can get a GED at age 16. When you can take the GED and start College 2-3 years early, why stay in high school? I personally know at least 3 youth who chose this route and are living productive lives as college graduates. One even completed a tour of duty in the Navy.
	Report Comment debbiewade, Tulsa (3/1/2009 10:15:48 AM) Dropping out of school is not a good idea. But the attitudes expressed here about the people who do drop out are very cruel. Did we not learn to "think before we type?"
	Report Comment Mar, Tulsa (3/1/2009 11:42:07 AM) Debbiewade......people are not being cruel, they are being truthful. These future adults that drop out of school in middle school and high school will be a financial drain on our society in years to come. Not to mention possible criminal problems. I thought in Tulsa you had to be 18 to legally drop out of school. That if you couldn't or wouldn't make it in a regular high school you were put in an alternative school setting. I also don't find it fair for a 16 year old to be able to take the GED test and graduate before that person's class graduates. Use to you couldn't take the GED test to graduate until your class graduated. Otherwise it's like rewarding the student for dropping out of school early. At any rate, people that don't graduate from high school should not be eligible for welfare assistance, food stamps, medicaid, etc. Girls under 18 and not old enough to graduate who find themselves pregnant, their family should be held financially responsible. You can't make people do what they don't want to do, in other words morals can't be legislated. But laws and rules can be made where people have to make the right decisions to get what they want.
	Report Comment stephenrhymer, elk city (3/1/2009 6:54:42 PM) only the government could figure out how not to count a dropout as a dropout. no wonder school success reports always look cooked when compared to the real world. the excuses by state officals border on the inane. if that's the best they can do it's time for our state to get some new blood in the state education department.
	Report Comment Popeye, T-Town (3/1/2009 7:05:53 PM) DebbieWade and RealPrivate55: Your attitudes and described situations are exceptional. At issue are not the children that manage to make something out of their lives, or those that go on after a life changing loss or challenge; its the ones that are uncounted at Central, Hale and McClain. These kids are probably not excelling and graduating early, or overcoming the death of a parent. They are simply on their own and poorly parented -- if a family exists at all. Don't confuse your unrealistic optimism for the nuts and bolts coming off our societies axles as the wheels fall off! The blending and diluting of an issue does little to address the difficult problems and realizations we face as a nation, as a state, city or town. We must admit that something is terribly wrong before we take steps to repair the damage.
	Report Comment Ok/A, Oklahoman (3/1/2009 7:51:26 PM) TPS administration is something else. They tell you that you are out of sync when the child was in special hospital situations for months and you are to have tests and pages of work done the minute the child in placed back in your classroom. Administration are pencil pushers and understand nothing about maintaining a classroom. I retired early because it got crazy.

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