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Last modified: Nov. 2000Why This
Measure?
Our community goal is for kids
to be successful in school, and for schools to be supportive of success
for a wide range of learning styles and needs. Success in school
suggests that a young person’s life has some focus; successfully
negotiating high school suggests that a teenager will be more capable of
functioning effectively in the wider world.
High school completion is only one of many
measures that can help tell us about how well our schools serve students
— in this case, about how well they serve students with challenges. But
high school completion by itself doesn’t tell us much. No one measure
can fully reflect school quality. Other information would help us fill in
the picture. Is the curriculum and structure meaningful and relevant to
kids? Do kids feel safe and valued? Are policies and programs in place to
help kids learn and grow through personal and educational problems? Do
schools nurture creativity and critical thinking? If the answer to these
kinds of questions is yes, kids will be more likely to remain in school to
graduate.
Lead Indicator
Source: Missoula County Public Schools District
Profile 2000,Montana Office of Public Instruction, Statewide Dropout Reports
How
are we doing?
In the first year of statewide
standardized reporting, dropouts for the big high schools in the state
ranged from 4% to Missoula’s 11%. Since then, Missoula has shown an
average rate that is lower, although at the three larger MCPS schools, the
rate varies based on different demographic profiles of the student
bodies. Three other major districts had numbers similar to Missoula’s.
The statewide average for 7th and 8th grade dropouts is 0.5% (MCPS did not
report for this age group), and we know that a group of kids leave the
system between middle school and high school without being reflected in
either group’s dropout numbers. In 1995-1996, OPI gathered dropout data
using the reporting method developed by the National Center for Education
Statistics, which uses a "snapshot" of the dropout picture in
October of each school year. Over time, it should give us reliable trend
data and allow us to compare different districts.
This data is provocative but limited. While having consistent dropout
statistics is a step toward reducing dropouts, it is only a step. We also
need to know when and why students leave, and to identify the policies
that effectively keep kids in school. It may be worth noting that the
three AA high schools with the lowest dropout rates do not automatically
suspend kids with a certain number of unexcused absences.
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Who’s At Risk for
Dropping Out?
Studies indicate that the chances of dropping out are
higher for minority students and for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. But a 1989
analysis of dropout studies indicates that, nationally, 66% of dropouts are white, 68%
come from two-parent families, 60% have C averages or better, and 71% have never failed a
grade. (Dropout Rates in the United States, U.S. Dept. of Education 1990)
Small schools tend to have lower dropout rates, which is credited partly to the
personal attention possible in small schools, and partly to the lack of options for a
teenager in a small town. Frenchtown reported a phenomenally low 1% dropout rate for
1995-1996, while the average for schools its size was 3.9%. (OPI)
GEDs
In 1996, 239 people took the GED test through
Missoula Adult Basic Education, and 91% of them passed. In the 1995-1996 school year, the
entire state recorded about 2900 dropouts and issued GEDs to 1164 people from 16 to 19
years old. About 12% of everyone in Montana taking the GED was American Indian. The UM
College of Technology admitted 147 students with GEDs to their programs in the fall of
1997. (Adult Basic Ed, OPI, and the UM College of Technology)
Alternative
Education
MCPS Independent Study Program
Forty-four students are currently enrolled in the new Independent Study Program (ISP),
the first phase of Missoula County Public Schools' Alternative Education effort. Fifteen
students are on a waiting list, and current staffing can handle 50 students. The
program is designed for young adults ages 15 to 19 who otherwise would not be in
traditional high school. Students need to apply and a screening committee looks at
a number of factors, including whether the applicant can realistically complete his/her
high school diploma before their last year of eligibility.
The program is marketed as a program of choice; students are "not sentenced
here." Schedules are flexible to accommodate student needs; however, students must
attend classes a minimum of 12 hours per week and make sustained progress. Students are
required to cover the same credits required in traditional high school, and it is
"not a watered down curriculum." Core classes are offered, and each student has
an educational plan that is designed to fit his/her unique academic needs.
In this first class, more than 75% of parents have participated with their kids, and
seem to be grateful that there is some other way to get their child through school.
During this initial year, soft money will support the program; next year per student
funding based on numbers from the preceding year will kick in. The program is located at
the Lifelong Learning Center, formerly Emma Dickinson Elementary School.
Home Schooling
In the MCPS district in 1996-1997, 67
elementary school kids and 25 high school kids were home schooled, compared to 56 and 15
the year before that. In 1996-1997, 754 Missoula elementary kids and 410 high school kids
were in private schools, compared to 744 and 380 in the previous year. (OPI)
College Bound?
About 65% of MCPS students go on
to college. The national rate is 50%. (MCPS Shareholder’s Report, Fall
1996) Nationally, about 50% of those starting college actually complete a
bachelor’s degree. In Missoula the average is 70%. (MCPS)
Test Scores
As usual,
Missoula County students scored higher than the national and state
averages on the SAT tests for the 1996-1997 school year. This is partly
because fewer students here take the test (22% statewide versus 42%
nationally), and those taking it tend to be the top students. But this is
true of several states besides Montana, and of the states with higher
average scores, Montana had the highest percentage of test takers. (Missoulian,
August 27, 1997) Whenever test scores are compared, we need to remember
how closely they are tied to the socioeconomic status and education levels
of the children’s households.
Future Jobs
Schools are certainly about more than job training. Still, there are
interesting predictions for the future of the work force. Futurists are
indicating that, by the year 2005, 60% of the jobs will require some kind
of specialized training, only 25% will require even a traditional bachelor’s
degree, and only 15% will be unskilled.
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