High school graduation and dropout rates have long been used as indicators of educational system productivity and effectiveness and of social and economic well being. While determining these rates may seem like a straightforward task, their calculation is in fact quite complicated. How does one count a student who leaves a regular high school but later completes a GED? How does one count a student who spends most of his/her high school years at one school and then transfers to another? If the student graduates, which school should receive credit? If the student drops out, which school should take responsibility? This book addresses these issues and to examine (1) the strengths, limitations, accuracy, and utility of the available dropout and completion measures; (2) the state of the art with respect to longitudinal data systems; and (3) ways that dropout and completion rates can be used to improve policy and practice.--Publisher's description.
High school graduation and dropout rates have long been used as indicators of educational system productivity and effectiveness and of social and economic well being. While determining these rates may seem like a straightforward task, their calculation is in fact quite complicated. How does one count a student who leaves a regular high school but later completes a GED? How does one count a student who spends most of his/her high school years at one school and then transfers to another? If the student graduates, which school should receive credit? If the student drops out, which school should take responsibility? This book addresses these issues and to examine (1) the strengths, limitations, accuracy, and utility of the available dropout and completion measures; (2) the state of the art with respect to longitudinal data systems; and (3) ways that dropout and completion rates can be used to improve policy and practice.--Publisher's description.
To evaluate the accuracy of dropout and completion rate data used as indicators of education system effectiveness and socioeconomic well-being, a joint National Research Council and National Academy of Education project begun in 2008 examined student tracking systems, identified the analyses needed to understand early warning indicators and trends, and considered ways such information could be used to improve practice and public policies at the state and national levels. The report includes examples of states' record-keeping forms and student engagement action plans, recommendations, references, and the workshop agenda and list of participants. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
