PAR reports 56,800 high school dropouts from 2006-2010

In a report titled “A Future at Risk: Meeting the Challenge of Louisiana’s High School Dropout Problem,” the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana says nearly one out of six students entering high school in Louisiana are not leaving with a diploma. “Specifically, 8,797 members of the Louisiana freshman class of 2006 dropped out of high school at some point before graduation in 2010, a cohort dropout rate of 17%,” reads the report, which is being released today. “The cohort dropout rate is generally regarded as the most accurate assessment of how a state is performing. Louisiana has one of the worst cohort dropout rates in the nation.” The total number of students who dropped out between 2006 and 2010—56,800—”is even more alarming,” says the report. Of that number, approximately 59% were male, two-thirds were 17 or older, and two-thirds were black. “Despite this, Louisiana’s graduation rate is moving slowly in the right direction, running against a national trend of stagnant or declining performance. In recent years the state has created three new curriculum tracks, reorganized the education department and launched the nation’s biggest experiment in charter schools in New Orleans in an effort to boost the graduation rate and reduce the dropout rate,” the report says. In 2009, the Legislature set a goal for the state to reach an 80% graduation rate by 2014. The state’s rate has been at about 67% in recent years. The PAR report includes recommendations for reaching the Legislature’s target rate. To see the full report visit the PAR website here.