Local schools beat state; Anzar stands out
The dropout rate in San Benito County is 13.4 percent, more than
10 percent lower than the state average, according to new data from
the California Department of Education.
Local schools beat state; Anzar stands out
The dropout rate in San Benito County is 13.4 percent, more than 10 percent lower than the state average, according to new data from the California Department of Education.
While local educators struggle to reduce the dropout rate, some state and local officials question the validity of the data.
Becky Granse, who works in the registrar at San Benito High School, and Steve Weiss, the coordinator of data assessment and testing, are charged with tracking the entrance and exit of every high school student.
“Are there students who are considered dropouts who are not dropouts?” Granse asked. “Yes. I am 100 percent sure. Because we weren’t able to track some students, they are dropouts, even if they are going to Harvard next year. It’s ridiculous.”
When a student transfers to another California public school, state officials count them as a dropout until a California public school claims their identification number, Weiss said.
The dropout rate is based on a new statewide identification system, said Tina Jung, spokesperson for the California Department of Education.
Each child in a California public school is assigned an identification number. Students who move within the state are supposed to use the same identification code throughout their educational career.
Using the identification number, district officials assign students one of twenty-nine different withdrawal codes anytime a student leaves a school.
District officials were given little guidance about how to classify students, Jung said.
“Well, they’re training themselves,” Jung said. “It’s not the school’s fault.”
Jack O’Connell, the state superintendent, requested $32 million for funding a training program for district officials, Jung said.
“Unfortunately, that funding never got passed for a number of reasons,” Jung said.
Weiss and Granse classify students with an exit code when a school requests their transcript, they said.
They spent the month of June trying to track down students who transferred from San Benito High School but whose records were never requested by another school.
“I don’t think many other schools were doing this because I didn’t receive any e-mails from any other school districts until I started e-mailing,” Weiss said.
One student left San Benito High School and graduated from a school in Sacramento, Weiss said.
“The other high school assigned the wrong [identification number],” Weiss said. “That student would have been counted as a dropout in San Benito High School.”
The data is a work in progress, Granse said.
“So, with all of those contingencies out there how valid is the dropout rate?” Granse asked.
“I don’t know,” Weiss said.
The data will be more accurate next year because district officials have online tools through the department of education to find missing students, Weiss said.
The dropout rate at San Benito High School is 10.4 percent, according to a Web site from the California Department of Education. At Gilroy High School, the dropout rate is 21 percent. San Andreas High School in Hollister, an alternative school whose students are often academically challenged when they arrive, had a dropout rate of 50.5 percent, according to the state.
“If you look at district high schools, we’re doing better than most but not as good as some,” said Stan Rose, superintendent of the San Benito High School District.
There is no way to know if everyone is recording their data the same way, said Basha Millhollen, assistant superintendent of educational services for Gilroy Unified School District.
“It could be that San Benito High School is great,” Millhollen said. “Whenever something is new, you will have data skewed to one side or another. Districts can play whatever games they want with data.”
At San Benito High School, 50 students were classified as enrolled outside California, according to the Web site. At Gilroy High School, 17 students had the same classification.
“We would be sort of shocked if they actually sent 50,” Millhollen said. “What we’re going to say is, we legitimately sent 50. Who validates that a school actually sent the records. We could have put down 75. Who would check?”
The data is based on the honor system, Millhollen said.
“What questions does this bring up?” Millhollen asked. “It brings up the validity of the data. Everyone wants to look better.”
There is no outside verification of students listed as having enrolled outside the state or country, said Karl Scheff, education research and evaluation administrator. If there are big jumps or dips in the data, Department of Education staff give district officials a warning, Scheff said.
Although the data is not perfect, it is the best to date, Scheff said.
There is no magic to San Benito’s lower dropout rate, just a lot of hard work, Rose said.
Teachers and administrators at San Benito High School have worked hard to develop connections with students, Rose said.
“We try to get activities for them that are meaningful, and a variety of them,” Rose said. “We’ve increased the number of challenge days.”
On challenge days, about 120 students get together and talk about problems they face in their daily lives, Rose said.
“It’s a way of building bonds throughout the day,” Rose said. “We’ve tried to increase the number of interventions that we have for students academically.”
A lot of the credit goes to teachers, Rose said.
“The closest relationship in school that kids have to make them successful in school, their teacher-student relationship,” Rose said. “Our teachers have been working really hard with each other to make the curriculum really relevant.”
“I’m hoping that we’ll see another year of improvement in our academic success as well,” Rose said.
Despite recent academic improvements, a look at graduation data reveals some startling differences between graduates of Anzar High School and San Benito High School.
The dropout rate at Anzar High School is 3.9 percent, according to a Web site from the California Department of Education.
The vast majority, more than 97 percent graduate with required courses for the California University/California State University system.
At San Benito High School, the figure is less than 38 percent.
“I think it’s probably an argument for small schools,” Rose said. “This is 417 [students] versus 3,000 students.”
At a small school like Anzar, teachers can do a better job of monitoring students, Rose said.
“Until there is a state funding model that supports that system of education, we’re going to have to continue doing what we’re doing,” Rose said. “We have to try and take the elements of success in a small school and apply them to a large school.”
Educators at San Benito High School are trying to push the entire student body toward a higher level of success, Rose said. The number of students taking advanced placement classes, classes where kids can earn college credit, increased by more than 200 students last year, Rose said.
Educators need to connect with students and make them understand why high school is important, Rose said.
“We are really pursuing this connection piece this year,” Rose said.
The school year will begin with a Latino Summit for incoming Latino male freshmen, Rose said. School officials will talk about the importance of high school and how parents can support their children.
For Latino males, the dropout rate at the high school is 13.6 percent, according to a Web site from the California Department of Education. For Latino females, the rate is 14.2 percent.
“Over the years, one of the populations that has struggled more than others is the Latino males,” Rose said. “We need to do it for all students, but we’ve had more success with some students than others.”
District officials are working with staff from the Hollister Youth Alliance, LULAC and the San Benito County Department of Health and Human Services to develop a mentor program at the high school or connect students with existing mentor programs, Rose said.
Educators will also work on writing skills with English language learners, Rose said.
“Learning academic language is going to be a big push this year,” Rose said.
The dropout rate does not begin in high school, Rose said.
“We have to bring this issue down into the grammar schools,” Rose said.
Kids need to understand from a young age why school is important, Rose said. He is working with Ron Crates, superintendent of the Hollister School District.
“All these things are going to be necessary to stem the tide of the dropout rate,” Rose said.
