An editorial in the New York Times this morning applauded Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's plan to address the most severe dropout problems first. As the article reports and we have heard for a while, 15 percent of high schools produce 50 percent of the dropouts. Labeled "dropout factories" these schools have been identified for a while. Duncan's idea is to use a large federal package to help the schools and the students. We know from our research and that of many others that the dropout issue is not just a school problem; it will require community and social services as well. I hope that Secretary Duncan understands the depth of this investment as well.
But for now I will add my nod to this approach with one caveat: schools with 20 percent of their freshman class not completing high school on time are still in trouble. We cannot take our eyes off that ball either.Do not for a second dismiss this as the status quo in your community. Fifty percent dropping out is a crisis for sure but 20 percent is pretty bad too and their are loads of schools in that category.
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