Frequently Asked Questions about School Holding Power and Attrition

How many students are dropping out of Texas’ public schools?

The latest annual attrition study released by IDRA in October of 2007 reveals the following:

• In Texas for 2008-09, 42 percent of Hispanic students, 35 percent of Black students, and 17 percent of White students were lost from public school enrollment.
• Since IDRA’s first study, more than 2.9 million students have been lost from public schools.
• The class of 2008-09 began with 383,061 students. Of those, 125,508 were lost from public school enrollment between the 2005­06 and 2008-09 school years.
• The gap between the attrition rates of White students and Black students has increased from 7 percentage points in 1985-86 to 18 percentage points in 2008-09. Similarly, during this time period, the gap between the attrition rates of White students and Hispanic students has increased from 18 percentage points in 1985-86 to 25 percentage points in 2008-09.
• Texas schools are losing one student every four minutes.

What are the different types of dropout data?
The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for the collection, analysis and reporting of data on the condition of education in the United States. Dropout data from NCES examines rates within racial and ethnic groups, across gender groups, and across states and geographical regions. How NCES defines the various types of dropout rates are outlined here along with other types.

How does IDRA calculate attrition?
IDRA calculates attrition by: (1) dividing the high school enrollment in the end year by the high school enrollment in the base year; (2) multiplying the results from Calculation 1 by the ninth grade enrollment in the base year; (3) subtracting the results from Calculation 2 from the 12th grade enrollment in the end year; and (4) dividing the results of Calculation 3 by the result of Calculation 2. The attrition rate results (percentages) were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Does IDRA provide attrition rates for individual districts or schools?
No. IDRA provides attrition data at the Texas state level and at the county level.

Why is measuring attrition useful?
Attrition rates are an indicator of a school’s holding power, or ability to keep students enrolled in school and learning until they graduate. IDRA conducts attrition analyses of enrollment figures at two points in time (ninth grade and 12^th grade enrollment four years later). This allows for increases and decreases in a district’s enrollment figures since district enrollment may vary from school year to school year.

In addition, IDRA has used the same methodology since its inaugural statewide study in 1986. So we can make comparisons over time.

How can we compare Texas with other states?
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases averaged freshman graduation rates that compare the 50 states and the District of Columbia. See a table showing the latest comparison.

Do accountability systems creare dropouts?
Accountability systems did not create dropouts. Losing children from our school systems has long been a problem. Unacceptably high dropout rates pre-date the accountability systems developed over the last several years in response to the concern about the effect of under-education on the current information-based economy. In fact, dropout rates for Hispanic students in the 1940s have been estimated around 80 percent (Cárdenas, 1995).

Accountability systems that do not hurt children will not create dropouts. High-stakes testing does hurt children and will increase the dropout rate (see Lesson Four).

Diagnostic student assessments are useful to guide instruction. And the use of state assessment measures is one of several necessary factors in assessing school effectiveness and for holding schools accountable for educating all of our students. Tests can play an important role in this kind of school accountability – one that accepts the responsibility that schools have toward children and communities.

Is this dropout data legitimate reason to give up on public education?
Giving up on public education does not solve the dropout problem. Private schools do not have the capacity or capability to absorb large numbers of poor students. Private schools are not accountable to the public for actions or results. Further, distributing public money for private schools would take away money from our communities resulting in higher taxes for homeowners and businesses in the community.

Excellent neighborhood public schools are the foundation of strong communities. The best way to strengthen public schools is to strengthen public schools – schools that are accountable to us all.

What can be done to strengthen school holding power?
The problem is systemic. So the solutions must address schools as systems. IDRA’s Quality School Action Framework shows how communities and schools can work together to strengthen pubic schools’ capacities to improve the holding power of schools through the following six areas – fair funding, governance efficacy, parent and community engagement, student engagement, teaching quality, and curriculum quality and access.

IDRA has outlined a set of principles for federal- and state-level policy.

See strategies for how parents, community members and school personnel can take action together.

See a list of components research shows are vital to strong school holding power.

Learn about the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, an internationally-recognized dropout prevention program.