Dropping Out Indicators

  • Of the 9,387 9th graders attending Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) in 2002, 60.5% graduated four years later.
  • 5,681 graduated 
  • 3,706 did not complete high school within five years.

These calculations take into consideration students who are deceased, were homeschooled, or entered private school. It is not possible to know what happened to those who did not complete high school. They might graduate in five years, attend Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ), earn a GED, or enter another program such as FCCJ's Pathways Academy or DCPS' Drop Back-In Academy.

Dropping out is a long process of disengagement from school. Students begin disengaging as early as sixth grade when they are held back or have frequent absences. 

Percent Students Absent 21+ Days, DCPS 

absences.gif

Many dropouts merely stop attending school. They were dropped from school rolls because, by their 16th birthday, they had accumulated excessive absences.truancy.gif

Source: JCCI Quality of Life Progress Report   

 

 

An indicator of disengagement is truancy, or chronic absence. 

 

Source: Financial News and Daily Record

 

 

 

Another indicator is retention-- the percent of students held back a grade. For example, a ninth-grader who was retained in either elementary or middle school is overage for his or her grade at 16 years old. The next year, the student might be required to repeat a ninth-grade course-- in 2005-06, 4,180 ninth graders did. At 17, the student is no longer legally obligated to attend school and might stop attending altogether. 

nonpromotion.gif                                       Source: "Non-Promotions in Florida's Public Schools," FL Dept. of Education