HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES

This indicator measures high school dropout rates for Orange County school districts, including detail by race/ethnicity and by program. Beginning in 2008, a student is considered a dropout if he or she was enrolled in grades 9 to 12 during the previous year and left before completing the current school year, or did not attend the expected school or any other school by October of the following year. Students who received a diploma, General Education Diploma (GED), or California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) certificate; transferred to a degree-granting college; died; had a school-recognized absence; or were known to have left the state are not counted as dropouts.1

Why is this important?

Education provides benefits to both individuals and society. Compared to high school graduates, dropouts earn lower wages, pay fewer taxes, are more likely to commit crimes, are more likely to be on welfare and are far less healthy.2

Findings

• The Orange County cohort dropout rate for 2016/17 was 5.3% and lower than the California dropout rate of 9.1% in 2016/17 and the United States dropout rate for public schools of 6.1% in 2016.3

• In 2016/17, there were 40,949 cohort students of which 36,360 graduated and 2,185 students dropped out. The remaining 2,404 students did not graduate because they were either considered still enrolled at the time of the cohort’s graduation (1,260 students), Special Education completers (359 students), CHSPE completers (193), or received an adult education diploma (14) or the GED (31 students). A total of 547 students were “other transfers.”

• Dropout rates for the 2016/17 school year continued to be highest among Black students (8.4%), followed by Hispanic (7.4%), American Indian (7.3%), Multiracial (4.8%), White (3.5%), and Asian (2.6%) students.

• By program, dropout rates were highest among students enrolled as foster youth (26.5%), followed by English Learners (12.9%), Migrant Education (10.3), Students with Disabilities (9.0%), and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged (7.9%) programs.4

1 California Department of Education, DataQuest, 2016/17 data. A cohort is a defined group of students that could potentially graduate during a 4-year time period (grade 9 through grade 12). The 2016-17 Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) and Outcome data has been released. Beginning in 2016-17, the ACGR and Outcome data were calculated using different business rules and are not comparable with the Cohort Outcome data from previous years. 2 Belfield, C. and Levin, H. (2007). The Economic Losses from High School Dropouts in California. 3 National Center of Education Statistics, 2017, table 219.70. 4 Socioeconomically Disadvantaged is a student whose parents have not received a high school diploma or is eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program. English Learner is a student identified as English learner based on the results of the California English Language Development Test or is a reclassified fluent-English-proficient student (RFEP) who has not scored at the proficient level on the California English-Language Arts and Mathematics Standards Tests. Student with Disabilities is a student who receives special education services and has a valid disability code or was previously identified as special education but who is no longer receiving special education services for two years after exiting special education. Migrant is a student

• Hispanic

Note: The 2016-17 Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) and Outcome data has been released. Beginning in 2016-17, the ACGR and Outcome data were calculated using different business rules and are not comparable with the Cohort Outcome data from previous years

Source: California Department of Education, DataQuest, 2017.

Number of Students Who Did Not Graduate by Cohort, by Reason, 2016/17