Jim Lerman's List: HS Graduation

This study uses a straightforward and reliable method to estimate the percentage of public high school students from the class of 2000 in the United States who actually graduated. Building on Dr. Greene�s work in a similar study on the class of 1998, the authors determine that only 69% actually graduated nationwide. While 76% of white public school students and 79% of Asian students graduate, the study finds that only 55% of African-American students, 53% of Hispanic, and 57% of Native American students do so. The study also gives the overall and ethnic group graduation rates of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, finding that for students from each of the three under-performing ethnic groups there were six states with graduation rates under 50%. November 2002

This study evaluates Florida's policy to end social promotion by requiring students to reach a minimum threshold on the state's reading exam to be promoted to the 4th grade. It finds that students who were retained outperformed their counterparts who were socially promoted by the equivalent of about 4 percentile points in reading and 10 in math. December 2004