Eventually, the two sets of figures will be synchronized, but the state was unable to do that before the release of the latest dropout figures.
The new system drew accolades even from some critics of the Department of Education.
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1 in 4 quit high school in California
State officials release results of a new system that tracks dropouts. But the numbers tell only part of the story.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, July 18, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 29 words Type of Material: Correction
Dropouts: An article in Thursday's Section A misstated the four-year dropout rate for Palisades Charter High School as 2.5%, which is a one-year rate. The four-year figure is 11.6%.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, July 19, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 61 words Type of Material: Correction
Dropout rate: An article about California's high school dropout rate in Thursday's Section A misstated a remark by Russell Rumberger, a professor of education at UC Santa Barbara. Rumberger said one reason for an increase in the dropout rate is the growing population of Latinos and English learners. He did not say it was because of an increase in Latino immigrants.
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"Though it has taken far too long and it is only partial progress, we applaud today's advances," said John Affeldt, managing attorney of Public Advocates, which has battled the department in court over the high school exit exam, among other matters.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hailed the data, but said it was important "that we don't just look at numbers."
"It's good information," he said at a briefing for reporters in Sacramento, but "what we need to find out is, what is the reason for the dropouts? . . . We've got to find out what the reason is and then we can work on that to eliminate those problems."
Some of the new dropout numbers are open to misinterpretation. For instance, some continuation schools -- which cater to the most troubled students -- show dropout rates of more than 100%. That is because their enrollment is based on a single date in October, but such schools typically have students who come and go throughout the year, so more students can drop out by June than were enrolled in the fall.
Nevada County, a semirural swatch of Northern California whose schools generally perform well, showed a dropout rate of nearly 77%. The explanation, Associate Supt. Stan Miller said, is that the county charters one of the largest dropout recovery programs in California, with campuses spread throughout the state but reported as if they were in Nevada County.
Even the most successful of such programs have high dropout rates, and the Nevada County program is large enough to outweigh the relatively low dropout rate of the county's own students.
What is inescapable, ultimately, is that the effort to statistically capture the complications of teen life does not lend itself to the simple analysis that a dropout rate suggests.
Susana Garcia, 18, counts as neither a dropout nor a graduate but as a "completer" because she elected to take the general educational development test, or GED, rather than earn a diploma.
"Obviously, people ask you, 'Did you graduate or do you have your diploma or GED?' " she said. "I don't want to be seen as a failure -- or a complete failure." She added: "In my mind, I still want to go back and get the diploma."
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mitchell.landsberg@latimes.com
