Posted on 03/25/2005 5:32:46 PM PST by paltz
/BLOCKQUOTE> "Dropout factories" is how a new Harvard study describes some California schools, finding that dropout rates for Latinos and black students are abysmal. Just 50.2 percent of black boys who entered ninth grade in the Golden State received a diploma four years later.
The dropout problem on the whole has been underestimated, says The Civil Rights Project of Harvard University, which called for improvements to dropout rate calculation methods and more accountability over the high number of dropouts.
The state has reported a graduation rate of 87 percent. Researchers using a different methodology found an overall graduation rate of 71 percent for 2002.
They also found that graduation rates for minority students were significantly lower - 57 percent rate for blacks, 60 percent for Hispanics and 52 percent for American Indians.
For minority males, the figures were 50 percent for blacks, 54 percent for Hispanics and 46 percent for American Indians.
The graduation rate reflects the percentage of 9th grade students who graduate with a regular diploma with their 12th grade class.
The figures were released ahead of a conference on graduation rates starting today in Los Angeles, which is expected to draw about 400 education researchers, teachers and policy makers.
"A diploma is a passport to economic success. If our high schools can't get students the education they need, that will be ... an economic and social problem moving forward into the next generation," researcher Christopher Swanson of the nonprofit Urban Institute in Washington, which produced data for the report released by Harvard's Civil Rights Project, told the Los Angeles Times.
The San Francisco Chronicle lists three other amazing statistics from the study, illustrating the racial and income gaps in California's school system:
Gary Orfield, director of Harvard's Civil Rights Project, said the current graduation rate reporting system is "extremely inadequate" because it allows high school principals and staff to report whether students dropped out or transferred.
"There's no incentive for them to report that they dropped out and they can easily report that they transferred someplace else because nobody ever checks up on the data," Orfield said. "There's almost no money invested at the state level or the federal level in determining whether people actually graduate."
The revised method developed by the Urban Institute is more accurate because it uses enrollment data that are tracked through grade levels, Orfield said.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said the study's results weren't surprising because the state has long known of the academic gap among minority students.
"Do we have a dropout problem? Yes," he told the Chronicle.
He also said the state needs High School reform, and blasted Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget a "devastating" to necessary school programs like the arts and athletics, even though the problems described inthe Harvard study all occured under the man Arnold replaced, ousted Governor Gray Davis.
Orfield added that California is by no means alone with its problems. "We found there is systematic misreporting of data across the country - and very little effort to deal with it."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Anyne who goes to Harvard undegrad has dropped out ( of education)as well...unless they are just looking for the Harvard name and not an education.
This could be a by-product of affirmative action: Targeted minorities who would do just fine at a CSU school are admitted into the UC system where they struggle and drop out. Those who would be fine at a community college are encouraged to attend a CSU school, struggle and drop out. If they could just go where their test scores and grades would normally place them, they might succeed more and in a generation or so, their numbers would be like other ethnic groups not targeted by affirmative action programs.
Gee, last time I checked, Asians were a minority. Why weren't they included in these stats? Maybe because asians perform better than EVERYBODY?
No one ever wants to think about why that happens.
Middle easterners perform on par with Asians in some fields like engineering. They aren't 'minorities' either.
I believe the dropout rates are for high schools not colleges.
then what?
my bad
Why did we need a expensive Harvard Study to tell us this. Stop spending the taxpayers money on this stuff and spend it on something that will do them some good like street repair or sewers. They pay for the sevices, give them some results.
Solution? Lower the standards, raise the spending. (/sarcasm)
After a basic understanding of reading and simple mathematics is achieved, the kid should have the option to take up a trade. Or, the kid could simply drop out.
A sixteen year old kid who doesn't want to be in school is a problem for everyone. No need in keeping him there, especially if his/her parent(s) is not supporting the child's education.
it's a perfect storm of low expectations from the educrats to the parents uninvolvement to living among people who don't place a priority on education and success.
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This is true BUT if they just drop out then what? They're not doing anything if they just drop out.
Most of the Latino drop out problems stem from illegals who are not citizens, don't speak english and when the State requires the real testing, they drop out.
The blacks have less of that, but still struggle to get their kids performing in this state as they could be capable of.
Really? Why's that? 'Harvard Civil Rights'... hmmmmm.
There was no mention of those other California minorities, the Asians, who are not dropping out but who are consistantly at the top of their classes.
We don't need no educatio
Because who couldn't LOVE academia?
I'm a white male and its my fault and I'm sorry.
Can you imagine the arrogance of a study where the only point is to learn why a certain group of people aren't motivated to come join you?
It's much worse than that. A high percentage of the Asian kids come from poor families and/or families where parents do not speak English. Yet they perform superbly in school, blowing to bits the arguments that the left has been using to get money for its failed programs for decades.
IOW, plenty of Asian kids go to the same lousy schools, come from the same dire circustances or worse (almost no black kids have nonEnglish-speaking parents) yet do very well in school. If lefties were to own up to the data, they'd have trouble selling their story that it's all society's fault.
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/3/17/163429.shtml
Dumbed-Down California Dems
Patrick Mallon
Friday, March 18, 2005
California's lowered-expectation Democrats have embarked on a pleasantly foul strategy to cope with the state's horrific national ranking of 48 out of 50 states in K-12 academic performance: Cancel entirely the already-tabled high school exit exam required to receive a diploma.
The urban public education system (NOT "government," since school district employees aren't civil servants, and are not covered under those laws/regulations) is broken beyond repair. Most suburban districts don't do too badly, but I've seen some suburban teachers who are every bit as ignorant and ideological as their big city counterparts....so the rot is spreading. The solution is not an easy one, but it DOES exist: Cutting down on administration helps...as does testing teachers on subject area knowledge, but the main thing is returning schools to neighborhood control and oversight. GET THE PARENTS INVOLVED!!! In some areas, that might lead to more problems that it's worth, but dammit, we've tried everything else, and that ain't worked! Also, hire teachers with DEMONSTRATED subject area knowledge! I've worked with teachers (and filled in for a few) who wouldn't know their content area if it bit them on the butt! School districts don't hire the best teachers, they hire the cheapest...and this is what we get. Money won't solve all the problems, and may not solve any, but if hiring standards were changed, we might have some improvement. If disruptive students were kicked out permanently, that would also help (we have to take them, but nothing says we have to KEEP them!).
Okay....basically, tear the system down and rebuild it....Jefferson was right: An educated population is what this society requires. Home schooling isn't an option for all parents, nor are private schools, so we better make the public system work, or face the consequences (which you can see any time you have to deal with some pimply faced little moron at Mickey D's who can't make change!). It's our choice.
Kids should have a choice: graduate high school or join the military.
They're not counting those kids who for various reasons get a GED. Not everyone has the same educational goals or travels the same path. I know some very hardworking central American kids who chose to help their families and work days and go to night school. A GED does not prevent you from attending community college. The daughter of one family I know went first to community college and then on to nursing school....after getting her GED.
For minority males, the figures were 50 percent for blacks, 54 percent for Hispanics and 46 percent for American Indians."
98% of Ivy League studies are politically motivated.
Don't believe these numbers, nor their supposed cause even if they are true.
Not only that:
Asians have a history of injustice towards them as bad as blacks and Hispanics.
Remember the coolies??? Well, after they were exploited, they went on to own businesses, even if they were humble laundries or restaruants.
Asians have never lay around claiming victim status. Or have you ever heard of a Chinese guy on welfare???
But, since they don't fit the "exploited minority" cliche, they're of no use to liberals.
Are you suggesting they should obscure a perfectly good line of BS with mere facts?
In California, Hispanics are expected to take Chicano Studies at most schools, colleges and universities. There, they are indoctrinated into believing the Southwest US is occupied Mexico, that government is bad, law enforcement is corrupt, and the rich, white elites are the enemy. Why would they think they can reject such victimization by staying in school? And if they acquire only a mediocre education, then they will depend on a union to get or keep a job. The unions have a stranglehold on the state and the schools, and require these uneducated new members to retain their power.
From the Koreans I know, the B's on the report card stand for beatings.
Include more practical classes. Put woodshop and metal shop back in the curriculum.
His logic was that school scores were always going to be down if there was alot of minorites, he could have stopped there, but kept going when he ranked minorites as being or should be considered in the same category as learning disabled kids.
Essentially, he sees no differance between retarded kids or black or spanish kids.
Famous story, When President Reagan was governor of california, he was trying to do something where race couldn't or wouldn't ever be used as a factor for admissions into the university of california.
One of his aids started sputtering and told that the schools would be full of just asians and jews, to which Reagan quipped "yea, and your point is?".
First generation asian immigrants have worked very hard to succeed. They have driven their children to succeed as well. It remains to be seen if this cultural drive will be perpetuated by successive generations.
It goes across the board for alot of asians.
I knew this one kid back in the day, he was japanese, the teacher used to give him a hard time, raising the bar on him, etc.
I noticed he had bruises on his arms whenever he didn't do well (his idea of not doing well was anything lower then an -A), his parents used to whoop him, and I saw his tests and homework, the teacher had raised the bar on him unbelievable high, I'd have gotten F's if that had been the standard on me. His parents eventually met up with the teacher, and the teacher got in line after that (no teacher wants the guilt of knowing that your causing a kid to get a beating).
I used to get a kick out of this in college, when teachers were argueing about the needs of affirmative action and test scores regarding blacks and hispanics compared to whites, I always piped in, "why do you only want them to match whites and what about the achievement gap between whites and asians, how can we close the gap between whites and asians".
Usually the teachers were dumbfounded (except one liberal indian teacher, she shot back, some things some folks are never gonna do).
Frist , no more money for schools. Two if a kid misses a day he and his parents go to canceling. If the kid misses three days parents get 7 days in jail after work and the kid goes to night time detention center. Any kid making less than a b by todays standard would have to attend with his parents, and after work, a night time session of study 5 days a week until a b is achieved. We do not expect enough from the kids. They don't do it because they get to make the rules and the excuses.
You mean Cambridge. New Haven is Yale.
Hmmmm. Wonder what the drop out rate is in "red" states?
Just wondering what grade you made it to? (Just kidding...I know my fingers get ahead of my brain while typing as well.)
After a basic understanding of reading and simple mathematics is achieved, the kid should have the option to take up a trade. Or, the kid could simply drop out.
A sixteen year old kid who doesn't want to be in school is a problem for everyone. No need in keeping him there, especially if his/her parent(s) is not supporting the child's education.
Someone, like me, who finally gets it. Yahoo! What the hell does "education" do as it is defined by our superior elitists in government and business? RADICAL change is needed in the system.
Sorry but that statement is less than accurate. Public Law 94142 requires that every child be educated in the least restrictive environment. Since we no longer have reform schools the task falls to the public classroom.
A condition of probation or parole for juveniles, always(there may be exceptions) requires attendance to a school.
"The graduation rate reflects the percentage of 9th grade students who graduate with a regular diploma with their 12th grade class."
This is not a good standard. If somebody graduates in five years, instead of four, are they counted as having dropped out? Does this explain the discrepancy in the studies, after all, they are measuring a pretty simple, non-subjective thing.
All of this failure of minorities by the ed. establishment can rightly be laid at the feet of the left, with their devotion to bullshit, their aversion to standards, and the aiding and abetting of their minions in the COMMUNIST teachers unions.
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