This infographic from IDRA explains eight commonly used measures of dropout and graduation data, including attrition rates, cohort rates and graduation rates. The resource helps educators, reporters and policymakers understand how different education data methodologies measure student outcomes and school holding power.
When IDRA was commissioned to investigate dropout rates in Texas in the mid-1980s, the state had no data at all to work with. IDRA developed a now industry-wide attrition methodology to calculate the number and percent of high school students leaving school prior to graduating with a high school diploma. There are other methods of studying the dropout issue as well, such as dropout rates, graduation rates and longitudinal rates.
They have different meaning and calculation methods, and each provides unique information that is important for assessing schools’ quality of education and school holding power. IDRA’s infographic, 8 Types of Dropout Data Defined, gives an overview of the most-used methods and what they mean.
- Attrition rates measure how many students are lost from enrollment between ninth grade and 12th grade.
- Event dropout rates measure how many students leave school during a single year without earning a diploma.
- Cohort rates track what happens to a group of students over time.
- Graduation rates measure how many students from a freshman class earn a diploma.
- Different dropout and graduation measures provide unique information about school quality and student outcomes.
- IDRA reports adjusted attrition rates that account for enrollment fluctuations and migration patterns.
See PDF version of the 8 Types of Dropout Data Defined – Infographic
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