EDUCATION

BRIEFING #1
TALKING POINTS JANUARY 2008

THE STUDY
An analysis of student enrollment and
dis-engagement between 2003-2006 at
three Duval County high schools:
Englewood High School, Forrest High
School and Terry Parker High School.
FINDINGS
Class sizes shrink dramatically
between 9th and 12th grade, with the
greatest loss of students occurring
between 9th and 10th grade.
• AtForrest High, the Class of 2007 started
out in 9th grade with 680 members. In 10th
grade there were 409 members. By the start
of the senior year, there were 285 members.
UNDERSTANDING THE HIGH SCHOOL
DROPOUT CRISIS IN DUVAL COUNTY SCHOOLS
Duval County loses far too many of its public high school
students before they ever graduate. Hundreds of students who
enter the 9th grade are not in school a year later; hundreds more
leave school in succeeding years.
Some transfer to the Adult High School at Florida Community
College at Jacksonville. But most just stop attending school,
leaving themselves unprepared for the future and unlikely to
participate in a growing economy.
Keeping students in high school is critical: Students cannot
achieve academically unless they are in school. Students cannot
graduate unless they are in school. Students cannot prepare for
the future unless they are in school.
INTRODUCTION

Male students tend to drop out more
frequently than female students, and male
students drop out in lower grades than
do female students.
• AtTerry Parker High, 65% of 9th grade
dropouts were male, and 82% of 11th
grade dropouts were female.
African American students do not
drop out at a higher rate than white
or Hispanic students.
• AtForrest High, 33% of the student body is
white, but 39% of the dropouts are white;
8% of the students are Hispanic, but 13%
of the dropouts are Hispanic; 51% of the
students are African American, but 43% of
the dropouts are African American.
In Duval County, only 64.3%
of public high school students
graduate on time.1 What happens
to the others? How many with-
draw or drop out? Why do they
leave and how do they leave?
For The Community Foundation
in Jacksonville, these are important
questions. Its 10-year initiative,
Quality Education for All, supports
work that will improve the
graduation and dropout rates for
Duval County public schools.
Understanding the complexities
of these issues is the first step
toward changing the trends.
To begin, the Foundation, with
the help of Duval County Public
Schools, identified three high
schools for in-depth assessment:
Englewood High School, Forrest
High School and Terry Parker High
School. The schools are racially
mixed, in middle- or working-
class neighborhoods and have
troubling dropout trends.
Through data analysis, focus
groups and interviews with teachers,
administrators and community
partners, researchers developed a
clearer picture of what happens to
students after they enter high school.

Most dropouts actually “slip away” from

school rather than making a conscious deci-
sion to terminate enrollment. Most frequent-
ly, the students have chronic absenteeism
and, once they turn 16, schools simply drop
them from the rolls.
• AtEnglewood High, 82% of the dropouts
in 2006-2007 were dropped from rolls due
to excessive absences.
Number of students
That picture contradicts some myths
about dropouts and reveals patterns
of when and how students are leaving
high school.
STUCK IN 9TH GRADE
The greatest loss of students occurs
between the 9th and 10th grade. Ninth
grade classes of 600 and 700 students
shrink to 10th grade classes of 400-500
students. While student population
declines continue through high school,
the drop between 9th and 10th grade
is most pronounced.
In part this is due to student retention
– failing 9th graders who are told to
repeat the 9th grade. But national
research suggests only 10-15% of
repeaters actually go on to graduate2.
Of those who dropped out in 2006-
2007, about one-fourth simply didn’t
show up for school in the fall. They
attended the prior year and were
expected to enroll in fall 2006 but did
not. This was most pronounced at
Forrest High, where more than one third
– 38% – of students expected to enroll
in the fall did not return to school.
Another one-fourth of the dropouts
proactively left school. They filed
an “Intent to Terminate Enrollment”
form with Duval County Public Schools,
suggesting that they planned to enroll
in the Adult High School at Florida
Community College in Jacksonville.
The largest group of dropouts overall,
however, were students who were 16
years old or older, had chronic and
excessive absences and were dropped
from the rolls. At Englewood, 83% of
dropouts were in this category; at
Forrest, 42%, and at Terry Parker, 35%.
1
Duval County’s 2006-2007 graduation rate was
64.3%, an increase over the 2005-2006 rate of
60.5%, but still lower than the statewide rate of
72.4%
2
Robert Balfanz, Johns Hopkins University
W H Y S T U D E N T S L E AV E Out-of-school suspensions are
considered the third major indicator
“Dropping out” appears to be less of student disengagement. Englewood,
of an “event” and more the end result Forrest and Terry Parker had more
of an extended process. In fact, than 550 out-of-school suspensions
national studies show that students each during 2005-2006, and 9th grade
begin to “disengage” with schools students received the largest number.
long before high school and that
there are some clear indicators of WHO DROPS OUT?
student disengagement.
Chronic absenteeism along with The public often perceives dropouts
student retention (students not promoted to be overwhelmingly minority and
to the next grade) are two of the major male. But, in fact, at the three study
indicators of student disengagement. high schools, dropouts were male and
Observers theorize that chronic female, minority and non-minority,
absenteeism does not begin in 9th in somewhat equal portions.
grade; it likely is a habit that is formed Looking at 2006-2007 data:
in middle school. A middle school » Slightly more males than females
student with excessive absences may dropped out, but at each of the three
be held back a year or two. By the schools, females comprised more than
time the student reaches the 9th
grade, she or he may be 16, or will
turn 16 during the 9th grade year.
The patterns of chronic absenteeism
are set, the student reaches 16 years
of age and no longer is a truant and
is simply dropped from the school roll.
In Duval County, 15.5% of all
middle school students missed more
than 21 days of school in 2005-2006.
But at five of the six main middle
schools that feed into Englewood,
Forrest and Terry Parker, middle
school absenteeism is much higher,
ranging from 19% at Landon Middle
School (Englewood) to 27% at
J.E.B. Stuart and Jeff Davis middle
schools (Forrest).
40% of the dropouts. At Terry Parker,
girls comprised 46% of all dropouts.
At each school, girls tended to comprise
a larger portion of the dropout pool in
upper grades – 11th or 12th grade. At
Terry Parker, for instance, 82% of 11th
grade dropouts were girls, while at
Englewood and Forrest, 50% or more of
the 12th grade dropouts were female.
» In each of the three schools, the
percentage of dropouts who were African
American was equal to or less than the
percentage of students who were African
American. In other words, African American
students did not drop out in numbers
disproportionate to their presence in
the overall school population.
In fact, at Forrest, whites dropped
out at disproportionately high rates
and African Americans dropped out at
disproportionately low rates.
Obviously, the racial and ethnic
makeup of the dropout population
will vary from school to school. But
the findings at the three study
schools, with their highly diverse
populations, suggest that students of
all racial and ethnic backgrounds are
equally vulnerable to dropping out.
A LARGER CONTEXT
The situation at these three Duval
County high schools mirrors trends
that researchers have found in other
communities across the country.
“…graduation rates in the 50-60%
range typical in many cities are driven
by students who enter high school
poorly prepared for success and rarely
or barely make it out of the ninth
grade,” writes Robert Balfanz, a
researcher with Johns Hopkins
University who specializes in high
school education challenges. “They
disengage from school, attend
infrequently, fail too many courses
to be promoted to the 10th grade,
try again with no better results,
and ultimately drop out of school.”
The Youth Transition Funders
Group (www.ytfg.org) has helped
many communities explore and
address the dropout crisis. Through
their efforts they have identified
key lessons that have relevance for
Duval County:
PREVENTION: School-related
indicators – not socio-economic
characteristics – are the most useful
predictors of who will drop out.

EXPLAINING GRADUATION RATES

& DROPOUT RATES
It seems logical to assume that all high school students who
don’t graduate must drop out, and, therefore, a school’s graduation
rate and dropout rate should complement one another. But, in
fact, public education statistics are not so logical.
Consider the fictitious Washington High School, which had
enrollments in 2004, 2006 and 2007 as shown in the table.
(For the purposes of this illustration, we will assume that no
students moved away, enrolled in private schools or died.)

In Florida, the graduation rate represents the number of 9th

grade students who graduate four years later. At Washington High,
there were 400 9th graders in the fall of 2003 and in the spring of
2007 there were 300 12th graders, all of whom graduated, leaving
Washington High with a graduation rate of 75%.
(It is important to know that not all states calculate the graduation
rate the same way, so state-to-state comparisons can be misleading.)
The dropout rate represents the number of students who stopped
attending school during a single year. At Washington High, the
2006-2007 school year started with 1,545 students and ended
with 1,500 – a loss of 45 students on a total enrollment of 1,545,
for a dropout rate of 2.9%
School districts cannot alter socio-eco-
nomics; schools cannot “fix” poverty or
single-parent households. Identifying
in-school indicators, such as course
failure, absenteeism, student retention
and others, positions schools, parents and
community partners to intervene early
if students begin to slip off the path.
ONGOING SUPPORT: Many high
school students require more than
four years to graduate. Some students
enter high school with low literacy
levels and need time to build skills;
others must proceed at a slower pace
because of demands of work or family.
AFTERCARE: Most dropouts persist
in efforts to complete their secondary
education. Studies show that nearly
60% of youth who drop out eventually
earn a high school credential, generally
a GED certificate.
These findings raise questions
for Duval County:
» What are the in-school indicators
for dropping out and how can Duval
County schools work to monitor
these indicators and reach out to
students before they drop out?
» What roles do teachers, parents and
the school climate play and how can they
be influenced to be more supportive?
» Are there adequate opportunities
for students who have dropped out to
return to school in Duval County?
» Finally, are we satisfied with the
quality and accuracy of Duval County’s
dropout data?
This report was prepared as part of The Community Foundation in Jacksonville’s Quality Education for All
initiative, of which Learning to Finish is a part. It was made possible through the generous support of
The Community Foundation and United Way of Northeast Florida. It may be found at www.jaxcf.org.
Research: Laura Lane, JCCI/United Way of Northeast Florida
Focus Groups: Jana Ertrachter, The Ertrachter Group, Jacksonville, Florida
Editing: Mary Kress Littlepage, KBT & Associates, Jacksonville, Florida
Published by The Community Foundation in Jacksonville
NEXT STEPS
This research was conducted under
the Learning to Finish component of
The Community Foundation’s Quality
Education for All initiative. Learning
to Finish focuses on assessing and
improving conditions for struggling
students, lowering the dropout rate
and increasing the graduation rate.
The Learning to Finish Leadership
Council has connected with a national
network of cities studying these issues
and will continue its research and
study throughout 2008 with the goal
of having actionable recommendations
by early 2009.
In support of this work, The
Community Foundation has engaged
researchers from Johns Hopkins
University to review Duval County
data and identify the early in-school
indicators of student disengagement.
This research, to be conducted in
2008, should provide school officials,
parents and others information about
likely points of early intervention to
prevent students from dropping out.
Additionally, the Foundation
hopes to develop information on
the economic impact of student
dropouts on Duval County. This
research will help the community
assess the relative value of financial
investments in intervention and
prevention efforts.
Subsequent Education Briefings
will address the findings of these
research efforts.
VOICES
Teachers and guidance counselors
from Englewood, Forrest and Terry Parker
high schools were asked their thoughts
on high school students and dropouts.
“I think it [the dropout crisis] is
deeper than the data shows. It’s huge
and getting worse.”
“Duval County parents and the kids
have figured out that they’re not
dropping out, they’re just dropping in.
They’re going to Terry Parker for a couple
of weeks and then when that doesn’t
work out, they’re going to drop [out]
and drop into Englewood for a few
weeks and see if their grades improve…
In between … they actually miss a
month of school.”
“I think the kid comes to school,
they begin to be absent and then they
come back and, you can call it what
you like but, they feel harassed. They
hear, ‘Well, you were out last week and
the week before and here’s all the work
you missed and you have to get this
all done,’…. And then they go home
and get harassed, so they’re stressed.
Finally the parents are so stressed,
they tell the kid, ‘You’re 17 now, you
want to drop out, that’s fine with me.’”
“[There are] less options…Our
students go from an English class to a
Reading class to a Math class and then
to Remedial Reading class, that’s their
day. Would you want to come?”
“As a guidance counselor, it makes
me sick that I have to do all this FCAT
testing or ESE work knowing there are
kids who had a murder or death in the
family and they have to sit in the
classrooms with nobody to talk with.”
“I think the kids view school as
something to get through rather than
to help them learn and grow to become
a better person.”
“I don’t think we need to worry
about tomorrow. I think they need to
be concerned about today and that’s
how I teach. I try to keep them focused
on today. If I can get them through
today, the tomorrows will take care of
themselves. When we were coming
along, it was tomorrow, but because
students have so much on their plates,
I think if we change the philosophy on
tomorrow and keep them focused on
today, it would be better for them.”