(November 24, 2009) Schools are consistently losing one-third of our high school students. IDRA has been releasing an attrition study for
Texas each year for 24 years revealing trends that mirror the nation. Attrition rates are an indicator of a school’s holding power, or the ability to keep students enrolled in school and learning until they graduate. Roy L. Johnson, M.S., director of Support Services at IDRA and author of the study for a number of years, discusses why counting dropouts is important and how the data can be used to strengthen school holding power. Roy is interviewed by
Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., director of the IDRA Texas Parent Information and
Resource
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* Roy offers an overview of IDRA’s latest attrition study and explains its significance for the state of Texas, its citizens, and its schools.
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Roy outlines the methodology used in the study.
* Aurelio asks Roy how the dropout rates in
Texas schools compare with others across the nation, including in racial, ethnic and gender subgroups.
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Roy talks about the national implications of high dropout rates, particularly among students of color.
* Roy and Aurelio discuss shifting the emphasis of dropout rates away from the students and onto the schools.
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Roy explains why IDRA's attrition rate and the Texas Education Agency's dropout rate have diverged over time.
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Roy says that schools and communities must acknowledge that high dropout rates are a "systemic problem," and that the consequences for society are steep.
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Roy argues that schools should move to a Graduation for All model.
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(November 24, 2009) Schools are consistently losing one-third of our high school students. IDRA has been releasing an 
