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The dropout rate in this audit is established for grades 9-12 on a four-year cumulative basis. In the Oxford School District, the calculated cumulative dropout rate is 14.60%. We calculate the four-year projection based on the principle that it is worthwhile to consider what percentage of an incoming class in a given year will drop out of the school district by the time they are seniors. To determine this rate, we use the current year’s dropout rate as a starting point and calculate what percentage of students would drop out, if the rate were unchanged over the following four years. In Oxford, based on a one-year dropout rate of 3.65%, the gross estimate is that 14.60% of the 1999-2000 freshman class could leave school by the end of their projected senior year of 2002-2003. In other words, if the current dropout rate does not change, we would expect that approximately 1 of every 7 freshmen who began high school in the 1999-2000 school year in Oxford School District may separate from public education by their senior year in 2003. The effectiveness level for this demographic group is 10.4% or lower. The mean cumulative dropout rate for the cohort is 11.6%. The cumulative dropout rate in the Oxford School District does not attain the mean or effectiveness level.
The most effective ways, overall, to reduce the number of students who drop out of school are to provide ways for students to succeed based on concrete, attainable goals and to promote participation in school activities. The principal bases for student success are the ability to read at or very near grade level and to receive effective instruction. Efforts to improve student achievement in reading will have short and long-term benefits in overall student success and, all other things equal, will have a positive effect on the school’s holding power over high school students. In addition to those initiatives currently practiced in Oxford, these specific strategies may be effective in increasing the numbers of students who complete a high school education in the Oxford School District:
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