Dropout Information
The dropout rate in this audit is established for grades 9-12 on a four-year cumulative basis. In the Polk County School District, the calculated cumulative dropout rate is 23.62%. 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 drop out 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 Polk County, based on a one-year drop out rate of 4.5 %, the gross estimate is that 23.62% 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 drop out rate does not change, we would expect that approximately 1 of every 5 freshmen who began high school in the 1999-2000 school year in Polk County 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 drop out rate in Polk Ccounty 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. The following specific strategies may be effective in increasing the numbers of students who complete a high school education in the Polk County School District. Many may already be part of the district’s current efforts, but are cited here, by category, as an indication of successful practices in effective school districts:
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