The Condition of New York City High Schools: Examining Trends and Looking toward the Future. Data Brief (original) (raw)
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2004). An estimated 68% of all high school students graduated each year in the US while approximately a third dropped out (Swanson, 2004). For minority students, Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans, the graduation rate was even lower at approximately 50% (Swanson, 2004). These findings have not been disputed. Researchers have found, however, that graduation rates were even lower in large urban school districts and in many districts across the US (Swanson, 2004). Swanson found that New York City, Detroit, and Baltimore had graduation rates below 40%. Detroit, with the 11 th largest school district, had the lowest graduation rate in the U.S. at 21.7%. Fourteen major urban school districts in the U.S. had graduation rates below 50%. Miami, Dallas, Denver, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Houston also had graduation rates below 50% (Swanson, 2004). The growing overall trend in research on graduation rates showed that the rate was much lower than the accepted national yearly average of 68%. Graduation rates have come under increased attention and scrutiny because of the accountability and yearly progress requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). In 2007, researchers found that many US high schools were "drop out factories" because their graduation rates were below 60% (Balfanz & Legters, 2004). Balfanz and Legters found that "there are currently between 900 and 1,000 high schools in the country in which graduating is at Measuring Graduation Rates 3 best a 50/50 proposition" and "half or more of high school students do not graduate" (p. 2). Almost 30 percent of all students entering high school in the U.S. never graduate (Greene & Winters, 2005). Drop out rates were much higher for minority students which was termed "an invisible crisis" (Orfield, Losen, Wald, & Swanson, 2004). Orfield et al. (2004) found the following regarding the minority drop out rate: Nationally, high school graduation rates are low for all students, with only an estimated 68% of those who enter 9th grade graduating with a regular diploma in12th grade. But, as the table below [Appendix A] makes clear, they are substantially lower for most minority groups, and particularly for males. According to the calculations used in this report, in 2001, only 50% of all black students, 51% of Native American students, and 53% of all Hispanic students graduated from high school. Black, Native American, and Hispanic males fare even worse: 43%, 47%, and 48% respectively. (p. 2) These findings have been challenged and disputed (Kaufman, 2001; Mishel & Roy, 2006). Mishel and Roy found that graduation rates had increased steadily over the past 40 years. They argued that, based on their data, the claims of a graduation "crisis" were exaggerated and based on flawed and inaccurate data (Mishel & Roy, 2006, p. 11). They found that using enrollment and diploma data was inaccurate because it did not track students who transferred to another school or district (Mishel & Roy, 2006, p. 8). Mishel and Roy (2006) relied on actual student experiences and U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) data of households, which was a more accurate procedure because it took into account those students who transferred. Research that relies on the Departure Method is inaccurate and misleading because it does not take into account the number of students who transfer, move, die, or enroll in career and alternative education programs Research that uses Departure Method data is alarmist and sensationalized to focus attention on graduation rates and making changes to the NCLBA The more accurate Cohort Method is used in a minority of states and requires more time and resources to implement Using the more accurate and detailed Cohort Method, however, results in research findings that do not show a crisis in graduation rates Even under the Cohort Method, researchers have found that approximately a third of all US high school students do not graduate Graduation rates can be increased by allowing at risk students to take career and technical training courses (CTE), by providing adult mentors to minority students, by increasing student self-esteem, and by increased parental involvement and encouragement Azzam, A. (2007). Why students drop out.
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In 1996, the New York State Education Department began requiring all graduating high school students (starting with the Class of 1999) to pass rigorous end-of-course (Regents) exams in five subjects. This study explores whether the New York City Department of Education and New York City high schools have responded to these new standards by re-allocating resources, and whether the reallocation patterns systematically differ among high and low graduation rate schools. The analyses draw on a six-year balanced panel of school-level data (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002), constructed from a variety of New York City data sources. We model school-level resources as a function of school and student characteristics, including school graduation rates and school fixed effects. Regression analyses reveal large increases in direct services spending over this time period (1997 to 2002), while the percentage of more experienced and educated teachers fell. We find little evidence, though, of differential patterns across high and low graduation rate schools, with the exception of teacher experience and licensure, which show some evidence of significantly larger increases in schools with lower graduation rates. Non-personnel expenditures also show some evidence of differential spending patterns. The findings suggest that schools may have limited ability to redeploy non-teacher resources in the short-term. While other funds may be re-allocated, these represent a small share of total school resources.