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Dropout Rates Increase in State,
Now Scramble's on to Devise a Fix

By Nancy C. Rodriguez | Courier-Journal

LOUISVILLE - For the second straight year, Kentucky public schools had more students drop out.

It's a trend state education officials are scrambling to reverse.

"It's disappointing," said Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. "We've got to do something."

The biggest increases were among minorities, with 5.9 percent of African-American students and 5.2 percent of Hispanic students dropping out during the 2005 school year, according to data released last week by the state Department of Education.

The statewide rise came despite fewer white students leaving school - their dropout rate fell to 3.2 percent.

For individual schools and districts, the state does not break down dropout rates by race, so it's difficult to determine how minorities in Northern Kentucky fared.

Overall, Northern Kentucky dropout rates declined slightly in every district except Boone, Covington and Ludlow, where they rose slightly.

Newport High School showed the biggest improvement locally, with the dropout rate declining from 3.45 percent in 2004 to 1.24 percent in 2005.

Walter Ingram, an African-American engineer from Florence who runs a mentoring program for minority youths, said it's important to reach out early to faltering students, rather than waiting until they are on the verge of dropping out.

In general, parents and schools need to seek out resources that provide minority students with positive role models, Ingram said.

"A lot of times, these students need to see people who look like them, either in a different environment where the focus is on their achievement, or in a school setting," said Ingram, whose Next Level Mentoring program pairs students with African-American professionals in the region.

In Kentucky overall, 6,522 students in ninth through 12th grades left school during the 2005 school year - 3.5 percent of all students, compared with 3.4 percent in 2004, or 6,163 students.

The Rev. Louis Coleman, director of the Justice Resource Center in Louisville, said the state and school districts must do more.

"It has to stop. It just has to stop," Coleman said, calling the latest data "sad."

"When you drop out in this community, you're dropping out into harm's way. "

State officials said they know of no single reason for the rise.

It could be an anomaly, but more likely it is the result of several factors, including falling behind on schoolwork, feeling disconnected or bored in school, or dealing with family or personal circumstances that make it difficult for students to remain in school.

Studies indicate dropouts will earn $200,000 less than high school graduates and $800,000 less than college graduates over their lifetimes, and will make up nearly half of the prison population.

They're also a drain on society. Over 25 to 30 years, a dropout can cost a community as much as $500,000 in public assistance, health-care and incarceration costs, according to data included in a recent report by the Indiana Department of Education.

Senior Mark Eisenmenger Jr. said he knew he would lose if he didn't finish high school. But by the time he was a junior at Fern Creek, he had accumulated only nine credits toward the 22 he needed to graduate.

"My mom had been sick for a long time, and I just really got off track," said Eisenmenger, 20, who often had to take care of his two younger brothers.

He transferred to Jefferson County High School, an alternative school created by the district to catch students before they drop out.

This weekend he will get his high school diploma, and he plans to go to college, possibly majoring in physical therapy.

"I just want to have a good life, and a high school diploma is key," he said.

Dropout and graduation rates have become a focus nationally, as political, business and education leaders have called for increased accountability and achievement in public schools.

The federal No Child Left Behind law requires schools to improve their graduation rates each year, and several national studies claim a third or more of public-school students fail to graduate high school.

Kentucky's neighbor, Indiana, also is struggling to reduce its dropout rate.

A recent report stated 90 percent of the students graduated in four years, but state officials expect that rate to fall next year when they begin using a more accurate tracking method.

National studies have estimated Indiana's graduation rate actually is 72 percent, and Kentucky's 79 percent.

Dropout rates also are important to Kentucky schools because the figures, along with attendance and other nonacademic data, will be used this fall to determine whether they meet state goals.

Kentucky officials say they are working to keep more students in school.

The state gives out more than $700,000 a year in dropout-prevention grants, which selected school districts use for programs to keep at-risk kids from quitting.

Schools also are trying to get students to begin planning for their future sooner, and they give them the opportunity and flexibility to pursue college credits and career training during the school day.

"We're not talking about things that are impossible to do," Gross said.

Principal Louis Hughley Jr., whose Western High School has cut its dropout rate in half since 2001 - to 7 percent - attributed the school's success to several intervention programs.

One of them is Fast Forward, in which students who have fallen behind are placed in a self-contained classroom to make up the work, but at their own pace.

The school also started offering in-school tutoring during the day and began a freshman academy, which allows students to work with the same group of teachers to help them make the transition to high school.

"You've got to have all kinds of interventions to keep these kids on track - along with counseling services and family resource centers," Hughley said. "It takes all of those things working together."

Jefferson County officials were not pleased with the district's overall performance, watching its dropout rate rise from 4.4 percent to 7.1 percent.

Valley Traditional High School had the highest dropout rate in the state at 10.7 percent. In the previous two years, the school had a decline in dropouts.

Bob Rodosky, the district's director of accountability, said the district's rate might be up partly because it is doing a better job of tracking students.

"I think we're a victim of our own persistence," he said.

nrodriguezcourier-journal.com

Enquirer reporter Karen Gutierrez contributed to this report.

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