Benchmarks 2000

Reducing Dropout Rates

By Joseph D. Creech

Fewer teenagers in the SREB region are dropping out of school now than in the 1980s – 13 percent now compared with 18 percent just over a decade ago. Progress in reducing the dropout rate in the region has stalled since the mid-1990s and states need to renew their efforts to increase the number of teenagers who stay in school and earn a high school diploma. Reducing Dropout Rates describes and compares different methods used to calculate and report dropout rates; looks at advantages and disadvantages of each method; explains what we know about students who drop out of school; and outlines actions states can take to reduce dropout rates.

Keywords: dropout, dropout rates, high school completion rates, dropout prevention, reducing dropout rates, dropping out of school

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