Local and state-wide high-school graduation rates increased this year, according to data collected by the Virginia Department of Education based on the class of 2010.
High-school graduation rates increased to 85.5 percent for the class of 2010, up from 83.3 percent for the class of 2009 and 82.1 percent for the class of 2008, according to the report. Charlottesville City schools also saw a decrease in the number of students who dropped out, with 6.8 percent of students scheduled to graduate in 2010 having dropped out, as opposed to 11.1 percent for the original class of 2009 and 13.2 percent for the original class of 2008. In addition, 80.3 percent of the class of 2010 graduated on time, up from 76.5 percent for the class of 2009.
State officials attribute the rise in state-wide graduation rates to recent efforts to tighten the oversight of individual students as they move from one school district to another.
"Common mistakes being made early on aren't being made anymore," said Charles Pyle, the department's director of communications. "For example, a student moves school divisions, and they just give him a new number. No, he's not supposed to have a new number so we can follow him from place to place, so we can make graduation rates accurate."
According to the Virginia Board of Education, in 2005, former Gov. Mark Warner proposed a new way to increase the transparency of the state's school systems. Up until that time, statistics had been poorly documented. The National Governors Association thus turned to longitudinal data systems, which have the ability to track students over time and from place to place. The new system not only tracks dropout rates and attrition more accurately but also explains factors that influence graduation rates.
Laurie McCullough, Charlottesville City schools' director of Student Achievement and Program Evaluation, attributed the decrease in local dropout rates to a highly dedicated faculty and newly implemented programs to prepare students for graduation.
Moreover, McCullough said, the Virginia education system has put more focus on students in middle school, allowing city high schools to start planning their future goals by implementing programs such as Advanced Via Individual Determination.
AVID - a program used across the country - focuses on identifying students who have potential but are not planning on going to college, McCullough said. It helps with time management and critical thinking skills and aims to increase attendance rates. The program is also being implemented in middle schools, such as Charlottesville's Buford Middle School.
Charlottesville has also eliminated lower-level classes, hoping to place students into courses that keep them moving forward instead of abandoning high-school education, McCullough said.
State officials hope to implement similar programs to give students necessary attention early in their career.
For example, Capstone Courses in Virginia schools will be used to identify students who show college readiness but exhibit signs of dropping out, Pyle said. Through Capstone Courses, a student would have the chance to address his academic and personal learning issues, Pyle added.
The main issue states are facing now, Pyle said, is to define what it means to be "college-ready" and decide how to aid those students who do not currently show college readiness.
"Moving a graduation rate is tough stuff," he said. "It's about working student-by-student. It has to begin back in middle school, where you're looking at data [and] you're identifying students that exhibit characteristics typical of dropouts. You contact and work with those students, and it has to be sustained over time"
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