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Article: Keeping Count of Students Who Drop Out; The new push for graduation rate standards might help more kids finish high school.
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- May 26, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Eddy Ramirez
Thomas Schroeder was halfway through his senior year of high school when he decided to quit. He knew he was too far behind in credits to catch up in time to graduate with a regular diploma. In other states, school officials would count Schroeder as a dropout. But in his home state of Florida, it's as if he never left school.
Florida, like other states, undercounts dropouts and inflates its schools' graduation rates by including students who earn nonacademic credentials. (Schroeder took the test for a GED certificate in April.) Not surprisingly, no one in west Palm Beach County, where Schroeder was a student, can agree on the ...