Georgia failed to count thousands of high school dropouts (Atlanta: day care, transfer)

[bdawk]

The quality of GA schools has been a concern of many in (and those thinking of moving into) the Atlanta metro area for years. At least by this one measure, on a national basis we are way behind.

The cost to the taxpayer can be high. Dropouts are more likely to spend time in prison and need public assistance at some time in their lives

Under the state's old formula, students who disappeared from a school's rolls were often written off as transfers without evidence that they had landed in another school. In general, students were only counted as dropouts if they formally declared that they were quitting school, something researchers say they seldom do....The new method takes the opposite tack, counting a student as a dropout unless the district can show that he or she enrolled elsewhere.

The new data shows APS's dropouts increased from 798 6 to 1,544 and its grad rate went from 69.5 percent to 52 percent with the switch to the new formula.

With the new formula, two cities that frequently compete against Atlanta for business look better: Charlotte's school system graduated 73.5 percent of its high schoolers and Dallas 77.3 percent.

Georgia failed to count thousands of high school dropouts *| ajc.com

[brownhornet]

52%, Jesus.

[arjay57]

The new data shows APS's dropouts increased from 798 6 to 1,544 and its grad rate went from 69.5 percent to 52 percent with the switch to the new formula.

It's pretty discouraging that only half the students bother to finish. How do they expect to survive in the 21st century without even a high school education?



APS is the best funded system in the state yet the results are pathetic. Just further evidence that you can't fix the problem by throwing money at it, I guess.

[Southern man]

On a similar note, many, many years ago when Gov. Lester Maddox was being lambasted daily about the quality of the Georgia prisons, he said"If you want better prisons, we need better prisoners" or something to that effect.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It's pretty discouraging that only half the students bother to finish. How do they expect to survive in the 21st century without even a high school education?



APS is the best funded system in the state yet the results are pathetic. Just further evidence that you can't fix the problem by throwing money at it, I guess.

You can't really use the rest of the state as a comparison. After all, this is Georgia, a mostly rural state and Atlanta is the only urban city here. Are there other cities that are demographically similar in the region, and are there results pretty much the same, or are they different? What is their funding like? The only city I can think of off the top of head would be Houston, but their Hispanic population is probably higher than Atlanta's, while their black population is lower.

[bdawk]

I've always heard but found it hard to confirm that Geogia's schools rank lower vs most other states on different measures.

There are plenty of resources to compare one GA school vs another, but that is not very comforting given the competition here may not be that strong overall. Are there comparison tools to compare nationally that I am missing - other than graduation rates mentioned in this article?

[AcidSnake]

I've said this before and I'll say it again, albeit in a different manner:

Georgia needs more variety in its curriculum. The academic track should not be the end-all be-all for every young person who lives here. It's too wasteful and we are forcing too much on these teachers as is.

But no one really cares now, do they? The free-market/pro-business crowd and to a small extent the teachers' unions are too wedded to this sink-or-swim format of education to try any other sort of reform.

And the charter school system only works in middle class and higher income neighborhoods where the parents actually give a flying fig newton about their children's educational development.

Man, this situation really sucks.

[bdawk]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

I've said this before and I'll say it again, albeit in a different manner:

Georgia needs more variety in its curriculum. The academic track should not be the end-all be-all for every young person who lives here. It's too wasteful and we are forcing too much on these teachers as is.

What sort of variety? Are you talking about teaching trades and that sort of thing? If so, do many other states do that with positive results? Just curious.

[alco89]

Originally Posted by Southern man

On a similar note, many, many years ago when Gov. Lester Maddox was being lambasted daily about the quality of the Georgia prisons, he said"If you want better prisons, we need better prisoners" or something to that effect.

EXACTLY!!!! I hate how people rate school systems! Why is it the schools' fault that the students drop out? Why is it the schools' fault that there are kids not passing tests when they clearly don't care to? It REALLY gets on my nerves when parents say "I'm not sending my kids to this school because their test scores are lower than this one and they don't graduate as many students." Um, no. As long as you as a parent stay on top of your children and make sure they know the value of an education and not treat it as a 'day care,' then they will do what they need to do to pass all tests and graduate. It's all on the parents and money can't fix that.

[JoeTarheel]

I can guarantee you that the majority of teachers in a "low-performing" school are just as qualified and work just as hard (or harder) than teachers in a "high-performing" school. When most of the students begin at a lower level, your results are just not going to be as lofty.

I'm not saying that the kids are not as capable, but that their environment often hinders them from being successful. Poverty, drugs, and other ills of society that are more prevalent in urban areas are usually the culprit. I don't really know of a solution, but these rating systems for schools and merit pay for teachers are certainly not the answers.