U.S.D.O.E. to Standardize Dropout Counts; State to Change It's System

This week's national report showing Detroit had the lowest graduation rate among major cities does raise some concerns about the performance of Michigan's largest city and other urban school districts, but it is also subject to the argument that it is not, currently, valid to compare dropout and graduation rates state to state.
But U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced Tuesday her intention to make those measures comparable. In a brief speech to a drop-out prevent summit in Washington, D.C., she said she would be unveiling new rules in the coming weeks that would require all states to use the same formulas to calculate graduates and drop-outs.
Michigan officials had not yet seen any details on the proposal beyond a copy of Ms. Spellings' speech, but Center for Educational Performance and Information spokesperson Leslee Fritz said the state would be using more accurate measures for the graduation rates being issued later this year.
"We're in the process of changing the way we calculate graduation and dropout rates to get a more accurate picture of where children are as well as to comply with No Child Left Behind," Ms. Fritz said.
The new Michigan graduation rates, for the 2006-07 school year, will be based on tracking individual students over their high school career, rather than looking simply at how many students enter 12th grade and how many graduate as has been done in the past.
The system is based on recommendations made by the National Governors Association and Ms. Fritz said several other states are also in the process of adopting the proposal. But the key to it is the Single Record Student Database, which has now been in place long enough to be used for the calculations.
The database gives each student a unique ID number that can be used to track them to any district in the state.
Though she had not seen details, Ms. Fritz said she hoped the new federal policy would mirror the NGA recommendations. "I would certainly hope the Department of Ed would recognize the work NGA has done," she said.