NH High School Graduation Rate Draws National Attention

In 2005, shortly after Gov. John Lynch took office, he declared lowering the high school drop out rate as one of his top priorities. His method—raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18 (set in 1903)—was not embraced by all. But he said again and again that not to do so, plus create alternative educational programs for at-risk students, would put the futures of the students themselves and the state’s economic health at risk.

Graduation hardly looks like this for all students. But the important thing, Lynch says, is that all students finish high school, no matter what it looks like. (Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis)

Lynch and a bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed the issue until he signed a bill in June 2007 that increased the attendance age to 18. House Bill 87 that year also added $4 million to support and establish alternative education programs in traditional and charter schools to target at-risk students. “This law lets young people know we are not going to give up on them, and we’re not going to let them give up on themselves,” Lynch said at the time.

Fast forward to 2010, and Lynch’s bet seems to have paid off so far. According to a new national study released earlier this week, New Hampshire continues to be a national leader in reducing the state’s dropout rate. “Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic,” by the Everyone Graduates Center (part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University) shows the Granite State had one of the highest graduation rates in the country in 2008 after it increased by 5.6 percent from 77.8 percent in 2002 to 83.4 percent in 2008. The national graduation rate increased from 72 percent in 2002 to 75 percent in 2008. (See a Foster’s Daily Democrat story here which highlighted local reaction to the study and what school administrators are doing in their in their districts.)

During the same 2002-2008 time frame, the state eliminated all five so-called “drop out factory schools” where 40 percent or more students failed to graduate. Lynch has set an ambitious goal of zero drop outs statewide for 2012. The study estimated the state would have to increase its graduation rate by .05 percent annually just to reach the 90 percent level by 2020. The report also showed that thousands of fourth- and eighth-grade students in the state lack sufficient math and reading skills.

Lynch said the dropout rate has been reduced by 50 percent since he took office. Continuing to reduce it will be the focus of his upcoming Governor’s Summit on High School Graduation, set for Dec. 13 in Concord. Specifically, this third summit of its kind will focus on continued state and local cooperation in reducing the dropout rate.

“We have made it a priority to ensure more of our young people earn a high school diploma so that they will be able to succeed and so that New Hampshire businesses will have the workforce they need for the future, and our efforts are producing real results,” Lynch said.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

Posted by Hilary Niles on Dec 3 2010. Filed under Education, graduation rate, Weekly Briefing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry