States Reporting Inflated Graduation Rates

[Sandpiper]

Sounds like lots of children are getting "Left Behind"

By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer
1 hour, 57 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Most states are reporting lofty high school graduation rates that far exceed reality and mislead the public about how schools are performing, a private analysis found.

The majority of states — 36 of them — say 80 percent to 97 percent of their high school students graduate on time, according to state figures provided to the Education Department.

Those numbers show "rampant dishonesty," said Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, an advocacy organization for poor and minority students. The Trust reviewed the 2002-03 graduation rates that states had to provide this year.

A series of independent analyses shows the graduation rate across the states is closer to 70 percent, meaning almost one-third of students don't finish on time — or at all. The nation's governors have agreed, which puts their position at odds with their own state data.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050623/ap_on_re_us/graduation_rates

[donco6]

1. It sounds accurate to me.

Those match our numbers. I don't know what the state is reporting.

[Moderator]

2. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1575209