The old graduation rate formulas allowed schools too much leeway in defining what a dropout or a graduate really was. Therefore the statistics were meaningless in a statewide context. The new graduation rate formulas may clean up the definitions - but do they really provide a true picture of what most community people think of when they hear the word "dropout?"
Wawasee had two foreign exchange students last year that did not have a certain document from the foreign exchange placement service. Under the new graduation rate formula, Wawasee has to count them as a "dropout."
Karen Franciso, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in Sunday's paper, provides some local and statewide context for the graduation rate formulas being used by Indiana.
Lowell Rose, a respected researcher, consultant and admitted public school defender, points out in Karen's article that if there are ANY dropouts - it's too many - but the Indiana numbers do not rise to the level of crisis.
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Indeed. This new formula also counts special education students who receive a certificate of completion or attendance as dropouts -- though they have completed their program as required by their individual goals.
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