In an email message to “NC Partners,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson (who won’t confirm me as a friend on Facebook) highlights a report on the state’s rising graduation rate:
NC Highlighted for Improving Graduation Rate Gains –
North Carolina is ranked seventh in the nation in graduation rate gains between 2002 and 2006 according to ?Rising Graduation Rates: A Series of Data Briefs,? released by The Everyone Graduates Center. … North Carolina has initiated a number of programs designed to positively impact the state?s graduation rate including dropout prevention grants, Learn and Earn Early College High Schools and other dual enrollment programs, credit recovery programs such as those offered through the North Carolina Virtual Public School and public schools, and a number of local initiatives targeting at-risk students including ninth grade academies, alternative diploma programs, Learning Centers and graduation coaches.
The problem is that most of the programs listed above were not implemented until 2006 or after. So, increases in the state graduation rate from 2002 to 2006 could not be attributed to these programs.
The dropout prevention grant program began in 2008. The first cohort of Learn and Earn high schools were opened during the 2005-2006 school year. The NC Virtual Public School began operation, I believe, in 2006. Learning centers, graduation coaches, and ninth grade academies are new concepts that have not been widely implemented.
