Report: Half of Atlanta students don't graduate on time

But system says figures are from 2003 and 68 percent now graduate

By BOB DEANS, LAURA DIAMOND
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 04/01/08

Fewer than half — 46 percent — of high school students graduate from Atlanta Public Schools on time, according to a national report to be released today, placing Atlanta 39th among the nation's large cities.

Students from the 50 largest cities have about a 50-50 chance of earning a basic high school diploma, the findings showed.

"It is not an isolated problem: This is a national crisis," said Marguerite Kondracke, president of America's Promise Alliance. "The inner-city kids deserve a chance in life just as much as the suburban kids do ... We're a nation. We share in this. This is our future work force. This is our future security."

Atlanta school officials say the study doesn't take into account the improvements they've made in recent years.

The report, "Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation," was to be released by Editorial Projects in Education, a nonprofit that publishes Education Week, a journal of pre-collegiate education.

The group partnered on the research with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit funded by the billionaire software creator and his wife; and America's Promise Alliance, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., devoted to children's issues.

Nationwide, the study showed, just 52 percent of the students in urban school systems ever graduate from high school.

The report based its findings on data from the 2003-04 school year. Graduation rates from that year led Atlanta Public Schools to transform its high schools.

The district broke its larger high schools into smaller communities to give students more support, including tutoring, Saturday school sessions and more one-on-one attention.

The system's 2007 graduation rate was about 68 percent, said Rob Atterbury, associate superintendent for high school transformation. The system received a grant from the Gates Foundation to implement these new programs.

"I was very surprised they used those old rates, but we're definitely on the move," he said. "We're trying to move to the 90 percent mark."

Urban school districts have large numbers of low-income and minority students who historically struggle in school. Those facts do not discredit reports focusing on city schools, said Alan Richard, a spokesman with the Southern Regional Education Board.

"I'm not sure most people in Atlanta and across the state realize how serious this problem is," Richard said. "This isn't an indictment on urban education. This isn't too different than if the study examined rural schools or some suburban schools."

Researcher Christopher Swanson calculated graduation rates using a formula to estimate the likelihood students will complete high school on time and with a regular diploma.

Swanson said he tracks the four steps students must take to earn a diploma — three grade-to-grade promotions and grade 12 to graduation.

There is no uniform way to calculate graduation rates. Researchers, state governments and the federal government all use different formulas.

According to the Georgia education department, 54.3 percent of Atlanta students graduated from high school during the 2003-04 — about 8 percentage points higher than the rate cited in the new report by Swanson.

Georgia uses one of three graduate rate formulas approved by the federal education department, taking into account the number of students who drop out, said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the state education department.

Dropouts are hard to track, Swanson said. He said states and other groups tend to undercount these students, which in turn inflates graduation rates.

Richard said Swanson's findings are normally among the lowest.

"The truth is somewhere in the range," Richard said. "No matter how you measure it, the rates are too low. They are too low for a society that expects most people to be educated."

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