Dropout Rate Stays Largely the Same

California students graduated from high school at a slightly improved rate last year, while their dropout statistics remained relatively unchanged, according to state data released Wednesday.

About 69.6% of California students who entered high school in 1998 received a high school diploma in 2002, contrasted with 68.9% in 2001 and 68.7% in 2000, according to the state Department of Education.

“Thirty percent of our kids aren’t graduating,” said Donna Rothenbaum, a state consultant for educational demographics. “Clearly that’s an indication that something is wrong.”

In addition, 2.7% of students dropped out during the 2001-02 school year, compared with 2.8% the previous two years. If the current rate holds, the state estimates that 10.9% of students will be dropping out at some point during the four years of high school.

State officials cannot reconcile the conflicting graduation and dropout rates because they do not know how many missing students repeated grades, left the state, earned high school equivalency certificates or went to adult or private schools. The state is attempting to develop a computerized student-tracking system to address those unknowns.

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the dropout rate fell to 5.7% from 6.2% the previous school year. Esther Wong, the district’s assistant superintendent of planning, assessment and research, attributed the dip to more focus on instruction and attendance. “We’re making sure students don’t fall through cracks, so I think that has a lot to do with it,” she said.

In all of Los Angeles County, the annual dropout rate was 3.7%, down from 3.8%. Ventura County’s rate edged up slightly, to 1.7% from 1.4%. Orange County’s dropout statistic for last year declined to 1.7% from 1.9%.