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Article: Graduation Rates Called Into Question; Database Tries to Standardize Formulas
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 17, 2007
- Author:
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A new online database of graduation rates indicates more than one
in three high school students in St. Mary's County drop out, a major
deviation from the county's 87.2 percent official graduation rate
reported by the state.
The publicly accessible database by Editorial Projects in
Education, which publishes the trade magazine Education Week, was
unveiled by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and first
lady Laura Bush at a conference in Washington last week. The
adjusted graduation rates, which are lower than those reported in
the vast majority of counties across the nation, call into question
the data collection systems states use to track students who
transfer or drop out.
The ...