Schools Required to Improve Dropout Ratesby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 03 Nov 2008 05:17 AM
The new rules are an extension of the "No Child Left Behind" act, which until now has concentrated on meeting requirements for grades three through eight. Now, high schools will have to be accountable as well. They must meet targets for annual graduation rates and may be fined if they don't achieve these targets. Consequences include having to pay for tutoring and replacing the principal of the school. Statistically, one in four high school students drops out before graduation. For minority students, that number jumps to one in three students. To put it in broader terms, about 7,000 high school students drop out each day in the United States. Schools will need to begin tracking graduation rates, not only for the general high school population, but also for groups, such as minority groups and students with disabilities. A standardized reporting system must be used by all schools, making it easier to compare the graduation rates among schools. right now, several different systems make it difficult to really know what is going on with graduation rates. Starting with 2012, schools must meet target requirements for graduation rates and will be judged on how many students finish high school with a regular diploma. Some exceptions may be made for students that need to take a little longer to graduate, such as students with disabilities or those who are learning English for the first time. Critics of the new regulations worry that schools may be caught going back and forth over this issue once a new administration comes on board. They don't think that it makes sense to release new regulations only three months before Bush leaves the office, since a new White House and a new Congress may create their own graduation rules. What do you think? Will these new rules improve our schools? Mary Ann Romans.Related Articles: Should You Hold Your Child Back a Year? Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevanteducation tags User Comments Andilei (70) 19 Nov 2008 08:36 AMI'm not sure that these new rules will drastically change things. Things should change within the school to prevent the students from ever dropping out in the first place. If this problem was changed then we wouldn't have to worry about this. But t the same time, the schools should work towards getting their students back in the schools or at least in a program to get their GED. Samual (11722) 19 Nov 2008 09:45 AMHere if a school isn't up to standard they are given a year to sort themselves out, if they don't the school is closed down. Samual (11722) 19 Nov 2008 10:42 AMThey go to other schools in their catchment area. Community Tags GED, high school dropout rate, minorities and graduation, No Child Left Behind Discuss this article
|
Education categories |
