GA/Atlanta Has Low Graduation Rate (Sandy Springs, Decatur: transplants, renting, credit)

[backfist]

Would-be transplants and relocators should know that Georgia and some metro Atlanta high schools have some fairly low high school graduation rates. Only 54% of GA kids are graduating high school. The rate is higher in Fulton, Gwinnett and Cobb. But Dekalb County's graduation rate is also at 54%.

Please keep that in mind when considering your new Atlanta/Georgia location. Best of luck.

Report: About half of Georgia teens graduate | ajc.com (broken link)

[bungalowgirl]

Hi. Unfortunately I heard this terrible statistic on this morning's news. What exactly is the problem?

[DoveDiva]

My only issue with the report is the fact that the data is outdated. I appreciate the work put into the report, but why tell me about the 2004 graduation rate when various initiatives have been put into place since then?

Just my $.20

[ATLienGirl]

Originally Posted by backfist

Would-be transplants and relocators should know that Georgia and some metro Atlanta high schools have some fairly low high school graduation rates. Only 54% of GA kids are graduating high school. The rate is higher in Fulton, Gwinnett and Cobb. But Dekalb County's graduation rate is also at 54%.

Please keep that in mind when considering your new Atlanta/Georgia location. Best of luck.

Report: About half of Georgia teens graduate | ajc.com (broken link)

Part of the problem is the Georgia High School Graduation Test. I took it my senior year but only when Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies were required to graduate. The test comprises of Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science. The Science is hard as hell. Many, and I mean, many, are failing Science. It is just terribly difficult. Lucky for me, I passed all parts although Science was not required. Starting in the year 1999, all parts had to be passed in order to graduate.

This test was started being given in 1993 where only Language Arts had to be passed, and gradually, as time progressed, they started adding more parts that seniors had to pass.

Let it also be known that most of the seniors passing in Fulton, Gwinnett, and Cobb are in the afluent areas of those counties (North Fulton particularly).

[lastminutemom]

While the graduation exam is a part of the problem, most shockingly is the number of GA students who don't even get to their junior year to take the test -- A huge percentage of the drop outs leave after their freshman year --

I think this happens for a variety of reasons -- in general, Georgia's schools have been weak and kids get behind. By the time they reach high school -- they feel hopeless and doomed to failure. Additionally, I think in many of the metro area's school districts especially there is a huge emphasis on college bound kids -- not everyone needs to go to college, especially at age 18 -- have you tried to find a plumber lately -- they make more than I do with a master's degree. But many systems have dropped the vocational programs...


Compared to the average state, Georgia requires not only more credits to graduate, but also more credits in the core subjects of math, English, science and social studies. High school remediation is rediculously expensive and I don't think most GA schools even try.

On the other side of the coin, I heard a demographer speak last year, who said that if the goal of keeping every student in high school until graduation actually is reached, this country will needs 100s if not 1000s of more high schools. Interesting, isn't it?

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

On the other side of the coin, I heard a demographer speak last year, who said that if the goal of keeping every student in high school until graduation actually is reached, this country will needs 100s if not 1000s of more high schools. Interesting, isn't it?

That isn't really a surprise. My high school class graduated about 350 out of 900 freshman at the start (not in Georgia). My school would have been almost twice as big if all those kids had stayed in school. And my guess would be that maybe three out of the other nine other high schools in the district had higher graduate rates (maybe).

[backfist]

On the one hand, at least we can say that we're not Detroit. Their graduation rate (for 2005 I think) was about 25%.

That Dekalb County only graduated double that of Detroit is no cause for celebration. It means that high schools like Druid Hills, Chamblee and to a lesser degree, Decatur High, were the schools that kept the numbers from plunging to a Detroit level.

Bungalow girl asked what exactly the problem is. I, for one, don't the know the exact problem, but I know that there's a host of problems. First and foremost, when kids are dropping out of school, the parents are not involved in any meaningful way in that kid's education. Lack of parental involvement becomes apparent to the students; if mom or dad doesn't care that much, why should the kid. And when parents and students don't seem to care enough, then teachers are going to stop caring. We noticed this phenomenon at Sandy Springs Middle School of all places.

That's the Yin.

The Yang is that the parents, students and educators at schools that do graduate their kids, and who do academically achieve, have no vested interest in or concern for the students at failing schools. There are no creative ideas for cross-town success. No desire by neighborhoods and communities to cross-collaborate on innovative ways to make under-performing schools better.

DoveDiva raised an interesting point about the time frame; that it's basically old data. While that's true, the grad rates in some areas are so low that the problems are too ingrained for things to have turned around in only a couple years. Suffice it to say, an under-performing Lithonia high school in 2004 is likely still under-peforming in 2007.

What all this means--at least to me, a prospective business owner--is that fewer and fewer people are going to be prepared for real life occupations, careers and socialization. And Georgia's/Atlanta's economy and quality of life will suffer for it.

[spacelord75]

When I read things like this or hear people talk about "best schools" or what have you, I just laugh. I think we, as a society, have become so dependent on others to do a lot of the parenting work....maybe because now both parents end up having to work, or maybe it's just he "outsource" mentality that has filtered into the home (nannies, housekeepers, lawn men, etc.) The bottom line is this - we each are in control of our own child's destiny (to a point)...enough to where you instill the values and work ethic to make THEM want to succeed no matter what. If they have this basic drive and value, nothing will keep them from acheiving their goals. Find a school that has the AP classes available and the programs you would like your kid to utilize (or they are interested in) and let them go at it. The reason we have such a high drop out rate is because there are a lot of kids with parents who simply don't give a rat's **** what their kids do, as long as it does not inconvenience them, and that is the inconvenient truth.

[jxu66]

As we all suspect, CRCT standard in Georgia is way too low. For fourth grade, 87% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to CRCT test and yet only 26% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to NAEP test. For eighth grade, 69% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to CRCT and yet only 23% of Georgia kids are considered proficiency according to NAEP test. May want to use exceed CRCT score as standard instead of meet and exceed CRCT score when looking at the schools.

CRCT vs NAEP

[gt6974a]

Well, AJC had an article a few weeks ago about scores/grades of the different ethnic groups. They had the scores and subject areas and I can't remember the numbers but I remember Whites/Asians do pretty well and the Blacks/Hispanics not so well.

Personally, I don't blame the schools. I blame the parents. I have two sisters who are teachers and they're tired of being strong armed by the Admins. I've heard from several teachers, wanting out of teaching.

One says she can't dicipline her kid's b/c everything time she sends them to the office, the principal sends them back b/c she doesn't want to hear the parents complain. She says the upper class parents refuse to believe their kids misbehave, are bad, or don't do their work.

The other has several students who have to go to the special 'Spanish' classes b/c they do so poorly and she can't do anything for them. Their parents can't speak English, she has to have a 'translator' at Teacher-Parent conferences b/c of this. She says most do so poor b/c their parents either don't care or don't understand what their child is suppose to be doing day to day. She considers her class more of a day care.

Oh yeah, both Cobb schools.