Here is a very interesting article about why the graduation rates are down!

Although South Carolina has one of the worst on-time graduation rates in the country, some local educators say those figures don’t capture the true number of students who are successful in school.

A new report compiled by the Charleston County School District analyzes its class of 2007 and what actually happened to its students. Of the 2,852 students in that class, 61 percent were counted as on-time graduates, which means the remaining 39 percent were considered “nongraduates,” by using the state’s graduation rate formula.

But not all of those students are dropouts. Of the 1,104 “nongraduates,” the report shows:

–190 still were enrolled in school.

–102 enrolled in GED courses.

–77 earned a special education certificate of completion.

–21 earned a state diploma after the deadline to be counted in the class of 2007.

–Other reasons included: enrolling but never showing up for school, transferring out of the district and withdrawing to begin working or attending home or technical schools.

The nongraduate group does include some students who didn’t finish. The report shows that 345 of the “nongraduates” dropped out during the four years covered by the graduation rate, while 229 have an “unknown” status, which means the school district doesn’t know what happened to the student.

Possible scenarios could include transferring to private or out-of-state schools, failing to return after summer break or dropping out, said Janet Rose, the district’s executive director of assessment and accountability.

Different organizations use varying methods to calculate graduation and dropout rates by including and excluding certain students in their counts, but most formulas rank the Palmetto State among the worst in the country.

Board Chairman Hillery Douglas took issue with the state’s calculation method, saying it should be more generous in giving credit to districts for students who take longer to finish high school or enroll in adult education programs. He said the state’s method of reporting confuses many in the general public, who don’t understand what the numbers mean.

“I think the way the state figures this thing leaves a lot to be desired,” he said. “It looks as if we’re really falling down on the job, but that’s not the case. They should make it clear what’s being reported.”

Board member David Engelman

disagreed. He judges the district’s performance on two key indicators — its

graduation rate and SAT scores — and Charleston’s graduation rate is the lowest in the Lowcountry, he said.

He said he’s heard the excuses as to why the district’s rate is what it is, but that doesn’t justify it. Even if the school district were allowed to count more students in its graduation rate, it wouldn’t affect its ranking because other districts also would be able to count those students, he said. Anyone can manipulate statistics to frame a situation in a favorable light, he said.

He likes the state’s method of calculating the graduation rate because it gives school districts a benchmark for comparing themselves with everyone else in the state, he said.

“They can play around with the numbers, but I need something I can look to that says this is where we are. It says for a well-to-do county that puts a lot of money into education, we don’t do very well.”

This marks the first time the Charleston school district has compiled a report such as this, and Rose said it was done to clear up misconceptions and help people understand that the graduation rate posted by the state doesn’t show the full number of students who are successful in school. The dropout rate isn’t simply 100 minus the graduation rate, she said.

The state requires documentation on students who move or leave schools, and if schools can’t provide that, they are counted as nongraduates, she said. District officials have worked with schools this past year to set up a system to account for the whereabouts of every transfer student, and that should help give a more accurate and improved picture of the graduation rate, she said. The school district still is working on its graduation rate data from 2007-08, Rose said.

“It gets complicated,” she said.

Two years ago, the state started assigning a unique number to every student in the state to more accurately track where students go, said Pete Pillow, a spokesman for the state Education Department.

That system should help school districts better determine their actual graduates, he said. The system works fine as long as students are in the state, but when they transfer out-of-state, it doesn’t work, he said. And with the military population this state has, many families are shifting here and elsewhere, he said.

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com.