Article originally appeared in the Worthington Daily Globe
WORTHINGTON — Nationwide, nearly one in three U.S. high school students drop out before graduating. This totals more than 1.2 million students per year — about 7,000 every school day, or one every 26 seconds. These statistics are from the America’s Promise Bulletin dated May 9, 2008. The same bulletin reports that less than 6 in every 10 Hispanic students will graduate.
The increasing number of high school dropouts is gaining attention around the nation because research shows that dropouts are more likely to be incarcerated, go without insurance, and rely on public programs and services than their peers who do graduate.
Over the last several years, District 518, Worthington Community Education and the Nobles County Integration Collaborative have all been scrutinizing student data and implementing best-practice strategies in an effort to increase student success and graduation rates. In an effort to be more effective, data has been tracked for specific subgroups. These subgroups have included ethnic groups as well as socio-economic status.
In Worthington, the average graduation rate of White students over four-years has been 90.1 percent. However, the graduation rates for the subgroups have been significantly less. In District 518, the four-year averages from 2003 to 2006 for each subgroup were as follows:
- 77.3 percent of Asian students graduated;
- 58.3 percent of Black students graduated;
- 49.6 percent of Hispanic students graduated;
- 73.7 percent of Low-income students graduated.
Based on these statistics it is easy to see that ethnically diverse and low-income students in our area are struggling to achieve the same academic success of their white peers. Worthington, like many school districts, is working to reduce this achievement gap.
The Nobles County Integration Collaborative, which serves six area school districts, recently applied for and received a mini-grant from the Minnesota Alliance With Youth and the Minnesota Department of Education to host a Community Dialogue about improving graduation rates.
The Community Dialogue on Improving Graduation Rates will be on Sept. 7. The Integration Collaborative is currently forming a planning committee to prepare for the event. The goal of this event is to bring together a diverse group of community members to openly discuss local challenges related to graduation rates and to brainstorm ideas on improving graduation rates in our area.
While educators are working diligently to reduce the achievement and opportunities gaps, we need the support of the community to fully address these challenges. This Community Dialogue will seek input from multiple generations, ethnicities and socio-economic groups. It will provide a place for youths, senior citizens, parents and business people to voice their ideas and be heard.
The suggestions made by the participants in the Community Dialogue will be shared with the Minnesota Department of Education, the Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth Coalition, the Nobles County Integration Collaborative Council and the Minnesota Alliance with Youth. Each of these groups will review suggestions and implement strategies to improve graduation rates.
The Nobles County Integration Collaborative acknowledges that school districts in our area, especially Worthington, face unique challenges because of our extremely diverse population. However, we strongly believe that the residents of this area also possess a unique set of talents, resources and insights to successfully address these challenges and be leaders in helping other schools and communities to effectively respond to changing demographics.
Individuals interested in serving on the Community Dialogue planning committee are invited to contact the Integration Collaborative at 376-3300.
Sharon Johnson is the coordinator of Nobles County Integration Collaborative.
Article originally appeared in the Worthington Daily Globe
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