Public High School Dropouts and Completers From the Common Core of Data: School Years 1991-92 Through 1997-98

State Public Policies and the Racial/Ethnic Stratification of College Access and Choice in the State of Maryland

“…The rate of increase in high school completers from 1992 to 1998 varied by racial/ethnic group, ranging from 2% for Whites, to 18% for Asians, 32% for Blacks, and 60% for Hispanics. The increase in the number of Black high school completers appears to be due primarily to an increase in the Black population in the state, as the four-year high school completion rate for Blacks did not increase over this period: 73% in 1995 and 71% in 1998 (Young & Hoffman, 2002). In contrast, the increase in Hispanic high school completers appears to be due, in part, to an increase in high school completion rates, which rose from 61% in 1995 to 80% in 1998 (Young & Hoffman, 2002).…”

Who graduates? Who doesn't?: A statistical portrait of public high school graduation, Class of 2001

“…One of the most commonly cited high school completion measures in circulation today was developed by the National Center for Education Statistics. This statistic, often described as a "leaver rate," approximates the high school graduation rate by calculating the percent of students who leave high school as completers versus dropping out (Young & Hoffman 2002). Most states are currently incorporating a modified version of this statistic into their NCLB-mandated accountability plans, in which only regular diploma recipients are counted as graduates (Swanson 2003b(Swanson , 2003c.…”

Keeping Count and Losing Count: Calculating Graduation Rates for All Students under NCLB Accountability

“…Two major difficulties are often encountered with dropout data. The first is that systematic dropout statistics are often unavailable for a substantial number of states and districts, which raises the possibility of bias in coverage and further complicates efforts to produce state-or even nationally-representative estimates for high school completion rates (Young & Hoffman 2002;Greene 2002a).11 Second, concerns have been raised that publicly reported dropout counts may substantially underestimate the true number of dropouts. We would anticipate this bias to be particularly severe for data generated in the context of high-stakes 11 The Common Core of Data is the most comprehensive national source for dropout information currently available.…”