New dropout rate in question - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess
The state Department of Education reported a sizable uptick in the dropout rate this week, leading to speculation that school budget cuts, the high school exit exam, or – choose your speculation – was...
View ArticleSTAR tests may end for youngest - by Kathryn Baron
Reading about SB 740, State Senator Loni Hancock’s (D-Oakland) bill to eliminate second grade STAR testing, took me back to my daughter’s initiation into standardized testing. She puked. “She almost...
View ArticleGrad rates trending up – or down - by Kathryn Baron
If California’s graduation and dropout rates were a pair of jeans, they’d have an “irregular” sticker on them. Sure, social science research has a reputation for squishy results, but it’s still a bit...
View ArticleNew way of counting dropouts - by Kathryn Baron
There’s not much new in the latest graduation and drop-out rates released yesterday by the California Department of Education (CDE), except for the way they were computed. For the first time since the...
View ArticleNew dropout rates may be accurate but tell you little and could get worse -...
State-level school graduation and dropout statistics have always been squishy, and the most recent numbers, from California’s Department of Education, are not immune to some of the familiar problems....
View ArticleRationing for community colleges - by Kathryn Baron
The days of the so-called professional student at California’s community colleges may be coming to an end. After nearly a year of studying ways to improve graduation and transfer rates, with dwindling...
View ArticleAmerica cannot afford the stiff price of a dropout nation - by Russell Rumberger
Kenny Buchanan is 44 years old and dropped out of high school 26 years ago. He’s been paying the price ever since. He’s held eight jobs in the last five years and has never earned more than $40,000 in...
View ArticleSo many students are hurting; listen and learn from their views - by Miriam...
As I wake each morning, I tell myself, “Thank you, God, for another day; may I encounter smiles on people’s faces.” I walk to school and I run into a lot of my fellow students. Sadly, I can tell some...
View ArticleBills seek to curb suspensions - by Kathryn Baron
The school discipline pendulum is on the move again, swinging from the uncompromising zero tolerance policies enacted in the aftermath of horrific massacres toward efforts to give school officials more...
View ArticleTrending toward graduation - by Kathryn Baron
California’s high school graduation rate is edging upwards for most groups of students. The overall graduation rate for 2010-11 was 76.3 percent, or 1.5 percent above the prior year. Tom Torlakson, the...
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