High School Dropouts 2004-05
Massachusetts Public Schools
In the 2004-05 school year, a total of 3.8 percent (11,145 dropouts) of students in grades nine through twelve dropped out. This rate was one-tenth of a percentage point higher than the rate for the 2003-04 school year.
Table 1: State Dropout Trends: 1998-99 to 2004-05
|
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
2000-01 |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
|||||||
| Total HS Enrollment |
258,026 |
265,795 |
271,700 |
273,912 |
281,939 |
288,329 |
293,399 |
||||||
| Number of Dropouts |
9,188 |
9,199 |
9,380 |
8,422 |
9,389 |
10,633 |
11,145 |
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| Dropout Rate |
3.6% |
3.5% |
3.5% |
3.1% |
3.3% |
3.7% |
3.8% |
||||||
The projected four-year rate is an estimation of the cumulative effect of four years of students dropping out of school. The projected four-year rate for the class of 2008 was 14.7 percent, a slight increase over the projected four-year rate for the previous class.
Table 2: State Projected Dropout Rates: Class of 2002 to Class of 2008
|
Class of 2002 |
Class of 2003 |
Class of 2004 |
Class of 2005 |
Class of 2006 |
Class of 2007 |
Class of 2008 |
|
|
Projected Dropout Rates |
13.3% |
13.1% |
13.4% |
11.7% |
12.8% |
14.3% |
14.7% |
Table 3: Annual Dropout Rates by School Type 2001-02 to 2004-05
|
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
|
|
Regular/Comprehensive Academic Schools (295) |
4.9% |
3.4% |
3.7% |
3.7% |
| Vocational-Technical Total (41) |
2.6% |
3.1% |
3.2% |
3.0% |
|
City/Town (12) |
5.4% |
6.8% |
7.2% |
6.0% |
|
Regional/County/Independent (29) |
1.7% |
2.0% |
2.1% |
2.3% |
|
Charter Schools (27) |
3.1% |
4.3% |
5.6% |
6.1% |
|
Schools Located in Cities (151) |
4.8% |
5.2% |
5.7% |
6.1% |
|
Schools Located in Towns3 (211) |
1.7% |
1.9% |
2.0% |
2.0% |
Table 4: Annual Dropout Data for Selected Demographics: 2004-05
|
Total HS Enrollment |
Number of Dropouts |
Annual Dropout Rates |
Percent of all Dropouts |
|||||
|
Grade |
9th |
84,628 |
2,541 |
3.0% |
22.8% |
|||
|
10th |
75,478 |
2,798 |
3.7% |
25.1% |
||||
|
11th |
69,441 |
2,813 |
4.1% |
25.2% |
||||
|
12th |
63,852 |
2,993 |
4.7% |
26.9% |
||||
|
Race/Ethnicity |
Asian |
13,612 |
358 |
2.6% |
3.2% |
|||
|
Black |
26,881 |
1,701 |
6.3% |
15.3% |
||||
|
Hispanic |
31,486 |
2,872 |
9.1% |
25.8% |
||||
|
Native American |
886 |
48 |
5.4% |
0.4% |
||||
|
White |
220,534 |
6,166 |
2.8% |
55.3% |
||||
|
Gender |
Female |
144,908 |
4,622 |
3.2% |
41.5% |
|||
|
Male |
148,491 |
6,523 |
4.4% |
58.5% |
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Table 5: Annual Dropout Data for Special Populations: 2004-05
|
Total HS Enrollment |
Number of Dropouts |
Annual Dropout Rates |
Percent of all Dropouts |
|||||
|
Special Education |
Special Education |
42,647 |
2,369 |
5.6% |
21.3% |
|||
|
General Education |
250,752 |
8,776 |
3.5% |
78.7% |
||||
|
Limited English Proficient (LEP) |
LEP |
10,706 |
996 |
9.3% |
8.9% |
|||
|
Non LEP |
282,693 |
10,149 |
3.6% |
91.1% |
||||
|
Low- Income
|
Low-Income |
69,952 |
4,461 |
6.4% |
40.0% |
|||
|
Non Low-Income |
223,447 |
6,684 |
3.0% |
60.0% |
||||
Table 6: Annual Dropout Rates for Selected Demographics:
1998-99 to 2004-05
|
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
2000-01 |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
||||||||
|
Grade |
9th |
3.1% |
3.1% |
3.3% |
2.9% |
2.6% |
2.6% |
3.0% |
||||||
|
10th |
3.8% |
3.7% |
3.5% |
3.1% |
3.6% |
3.7% |
3.7% |
|||||||
|
11th |
4.3% |
3.9% |
4.0% |
3.3% |
3.7% |
4.0% |
4.1% |
|||||||
|
12th |
3.1% |
3.1% |
3.1% |
2.9% |
3.5% |
4.8% |
4.7% |
|||||||
|
Race/Ethnicity |
Asian |
3.6% |
4.0% |
3.9% |
2.3% |
2.5% |
2.7% |
2.6% |
||||||
|
Black |
6.7% |
6.1% |
6.1% |
4.9% |
5.7% |
6.3% |
6.3% |
|||||||
|
Hispanic |
9.8% |
8.2% |
8.0% |
7.3% |
7.4% |
8.2% |
9.1% |
|||||||
|
Native American |
4.0% |
4.2% |
3.2% |
3.7% |
4.8% |
6.4% |
5.4% |
|||||||
|
White |
2.5% |
2.6% |
2.6% |
2.4% |
2.6% |
2.8% |
2.8% |
|||||||
|
Gender |
Female |
3.1% |
2.9% |
2.8% |
2.6% |
2.8% |
3.1% |
3.2% |
||||||
|
Male |
4.0% |
4.0% |
4.1% |
3.5% |
3.9% |
4.3% |
4.4% |
|||||||
Table 7: Annual Dropout Rates for Special Populations:
2002-03 to 2004-05
|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
||||
|
Special Education
|
Special Education |
4.6% |
5.4% |
5.6% |
||
|
General Education |
3.1% |
3.4% |
3.5% |
|||
|
LEP |
LEP |
6.1% |
7.6% |
9.3% |
||
|
Non LEP |
3.2% |
3.5% |
3.6% |
|||
|
Low- Income
|
Low-Income |
5.1% |
5.7% |
6.4% |
||
|
Non Low-Income |
2.8% |
3.1% |
3.0% |
|||
Table 8: Dropout Rates and Percent of 2004-05 Dropouts Among
Competency Determination (CD) Earners and Students without a CD
|
Grade |
CD Status |
Number of Enrolled Students |
Number of Dropouts |
Dropout Rate |
Percent of Dropouts |
|
|
11 |
With CD |
64,286 |
1,351 |
2.1% |
48.0% |
|
|
Without CD |
5,155 |
1,462 |
28.4% |
52.0% |
||
|
12 |
With CD |
61,138 |
2,065 |
3.4% |
69.0% |
|
|
Without CD |
2,714 |
928 |
34.2% |
31.0% |
Table 9: Distribution of Annual Dropout Rates Among Schools:
1999-00 to 2004-05
The state dropout rate masks the wide disparity in individual school annual dropout rates, specifically the number of schools that have dropout rates below the state rate. Therefore, including a chart within the report was important to illustrate the distribution of school dropout rates. Please note this chart only includes schools with enrollment of 75 students or more as dropout rates for schools with low enrollments are overly sensitive to small variations.
|
1999-00 |
2000-01 |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
|||||||
|
Number of Schools Included |
317 |
319 |
324 |
321 |
330 |
336 |
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|
Annual Rate |
# |
% |
# |
% |
# |
% |
# |
% |
# |
% |
# |
% |
|
0 |
18 |
6 |
16 |
5 |
29 |
9 |
38 |
12 |
17 |
5 |
11 |
3 |
|
0.1 – 1.0 |
67 |
21 |
67 |
21 |
73 |
23 |
65 |
20 |
70 |
21 |
74 |
22 |
|
1.1 – 2.5 |
103 |
32 |
92 |
29 |
93 |
29 |
82 |
26 |
81 |
25 |
90 |
27 |
|
2.6 – 5.0 |
72 |
23 |
93 |
29 |
85 |
26 |
80 |
25 |
85 |
26 |
94 |
28 |
|
5.1 – 7.5 |
30 |
10 |
21 |
7 |
23 |
7 |
23 |
7 |
37 |
11 |
23 |
7 |
|
7.6 – 10.0 |
9 |
3 |
9 |
3 |
9 |
3 |
15 |
5 |
17 |
5 |
15 |
4 |
|
10.1 and above |
18 |
6 |
21 |
7 |
12 |
4 |
18 |
6 |
23 |
7 |
29 |
9 |