Ohio ranks as a national leader in dropouts, ‘dropout factories’

Ohio ranks as a national leader in dropouts, ‘dropout factories’

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Ohio’s dropout rate increased between 2002 and 2009 at a higher rate than all other states except Illinois, but was just slightly higher than the national average in 2009, according to a newspaper analysis of state statistics.

The state’s dropout numbers jumped from 3.1 percent to 4.2 percent in 2008-09, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Sunday.

The national average was 4.1 percent in 2009, the only year all states reported their data to the National Center for Education Statistics

Gov. John Kasich wants to reduce the dropout numbers, noting in his State of the State speech this year that high dropout numbers in Ohio’s big city schools are a real problem. He wants to combat those statistics by holding students back if they can’t pass reading tests by the end of third grade.

The plan is “as direct an attack on dropout rates as we can do,” said Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesman.

Students who can’t read by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out, research has found. Last year, 34 percent of Ohio students were proficient in reading by fourth grade.

Some districts have questioned the accuracy of Ohio’s dropout data. Cincinnati Public Schools officials said students sometimes are counted as dropouts when they’ve really transferred to another district.

A report released in March said the number of Ohio high schools considered “dropout factories” jumped from 75 to 135 over the eight years ending 2010. Ohio had the biggest increase among the states, according to the children’s advocacy group America’s Promise Alliance.