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Highlands Today

Area High Schools Not On Dubious Dropout List

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By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: November 3, 2007

SEBRING — Florida ranked second in the nation with 51.1 percent of its public high schools showing excessive dropout rates, but no schools in Highlands or surrounding counties made the list of "Dropout Factories."

The state's public high schools have some of the worst student retention rates in the country, with half qualifying as "Dropout Factories," four times the national average, according to a new analysis of U.S. Education Department data conducted by Johns Hopkins University.

The term dropout factory, coined by Hopkins researcher Bob Balfanz, describes schools where no more than 60 percent of the students who start as freshmen make it to their senior year.

The state's percentage of dropout factories, 51.1 percent, was the second-highest in the nation, slightly less than South Carolina's, according to the analysis.

Balfanz says he has a hypothesis about why Florida's numbers are so high: large schools and a focus on test scores. Schools with an average of 2,000 or 3,000 students are fairly common throughout the state, Balfanz said.

"That's an easy place for kids to be anonymous. That's a key driver of kids dropping out," Balfanz said.

In Highlands County, Sebring High is the largest school with about 1,650 students. The school's graduation rate dropped from 78.0 percent in 2004-05 to 67.4 in 2005-06, according to the most recent data from the Florida Department of Education.

Lake Placid High School's graduation rate declined from 74.3 percent in 2004-05 to 69.7 percent in 2005-06.

Avon Park High School's graduation rate improved from 64.8 percent in 2004-05 to 69.0 percent in 2005-06.

Sebring High School Assistant Principal Tealy Williams said a variety of measures are taken to identify and help students who appear to be a dropout risk.

If it's an attendance issue, the school's attendance review committee (student's guidance counselor, social worker, dean, etc.) looks at academics, disciplinary and family issues to determine what is affecting the student, he said.

"We try to work with the family and student to see if counseling may be needed," or if tutoring or a support agency out side the school may be helpful," he said. "We work real hard to increase parent participation. We are starting to see some success with that."

In all the district's high schools, students who fall two years behind in their studies are directed to a performance-based program, which includes vocational training or alternative ways of completing school or earning a diploma.

Balfanz said the state's accountability is focused on test scores That includes passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) to earn a diploma. With the emphasis on test scores instead of graduation rates, schools aren't heavily penalized for low retention rates,

Nearly half of Florida's 67 counties have at least one dropout factory, and there are more than 150 statewide.

Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association, agreed that the focus on test scores in Florida has had a huge affect on students. And he said he wasn't particularly surprised by the data.

"We haven't made as great an investment in education as some other states have," said Pudlow, the
union that represents 136,000 teachers and school support staff statewide.

Florida Department of Education spokesman Tom Butler said in an e-mail that the department uses various strategies to keep kids in school. Those include reading and mathematics courses for students who score low on the FCAT and mentoring and leadership programs, Butler said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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