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Washington: High school drop out rate

The high school drop out rate indicator uses an adjusted cohort calculation outlined by the U.S. Department of Education.  This method tracks individuals over 4 or 5 years with adjustments made for transfers in and out of the cohort.  There are no adjustments made for Special Education or Limited English students and transfers from other districts who are credit deficient may not be reclassified into lower grades.

Students are placed in a cohort based strictly on their first time entering ninth grade.  Students are permitted to take additional time to graduate, but they are not counted as on-time graduates if it takes longer than 4 or 5 years to complete their high school education.

 
For the school year 2013-2014, in Washington...
  • The 4-year adjusted cohort high school drop out rate was 12.3 percent, while the rate was NA for the U.S.;
  • The 5-year adjusted cohort high school drop out rate was 16.2 percent while the rate was NA for the U.S..
There are no data for the United States.
 

To get the most out of this indicator . . .

 

Ask questions:

 

·         Do school districts in your county have high or low high school dropout rates?

·         Are high school dropout rates in your county increasing or decreasing over time?

 

Look at other indicators:

 

·         “Education: Educational attainment” – Does your county have high or low levels of educational attainment?

·         “Income and poverty: Reduced price school lunch” – If your county has districts with high dropout rates, do those same districts also have high student poverty rates?

 

Dig deeper:

 

·         Look at the county rankings for your state to see how your county compares to others.

·         If your district is missing high school dropout data, contact your local school district or go to your state’s Department of Education website to find the rate for your district.

·         The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics provides high school dropout rates at the county level.  See the Elementary/Secondary Information System. 

·         Take a Big Picture view of your county.

·         If you have specific questions, send us an e-mail.





Source: 2010-2014, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), (http://www.k12.wa.us/DataAdmin/default.aspx);
DATE LAST UPDATED: March 9, 2015.



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