Explanation sought for increase in dropout rate for Hispanic students
2006-2007 SCHOOL YEAR SHOWS LARGE INCREASE OVER PREVIOUS YEARS
by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, July 2008) The number of Hispanic students dropping out of school in the Cleveland Municipal School District increased dramatically in the 2006-07 school year over the previous school year. The percentage of Hispanic students graduating from the Cleveland Municipal School District also dipped by almost 30 percentage points from the 2005-06 school year to 2006-07 school year. The 2006-07 school year is the latest year for which data is currently available.

Ohio Department of Education data reveals that 1,921 Hispanic Students in grades one through twelve dropped out of the Cleveland Municipal School District in the 2006-07 School year. This represents 25% of the 7,658 Hispanic students enrolled in the district that year. These figures represents a significant increase over the 2005-06 school year when 252 Hispanic students dropped out of school, representing just over 4% of 6010 Hispanic students enrolled that year.

In contrast, 645 black non-Hispanic students dropped out in the 2006-07 school year, representing 1.8% of Black non-Hispanic students enrolled that year. 560 white non-Hispanic students dropped out in the 2006-07 school year, representing 6.8% of the 8,519 white non-Hispanic students enrolled that year. Also in contrast to the data on Hispanic students, both white and black non-Hispanics experienced fewer students dropping out in 2006-07 than in the previous school year.

199 Hispanic students graduated from the Cleveland Municipal School District in 2007 for a 30.1% graduation rate. This is down from 2006 when 261 Hispanic students graduated with a graduation rate of 57.2%. In contrast, during the same time period the graduation rates for Black non-Hispanic students increased from 55.1% in 2006 to 67.2%  in 2007 and the graduation rate for white non-Hispanic students increased from 52.2% in 2006 to 61.7% in 2007. Prior to the 2006-2007 school year, graduation rates for Hispanic students had been steadily increasing each year going from a graduation rate of 34.6% in the 2001-2002 school year to the 57.2% graduation rate in the 2005-2006 school year.

Eric Gordon, Chief Academic Officer for the Cleveland Municipals School District, says since he didn’t come to the district until October of 2007 it would be difficult for him to offer insight as to what may have happened within the school district to contribute to the increase in the drop-out rate among Hispanic students in the 2006-2007 school year.

“However,” said Gordon, “I think there is one significant factor that might have contributed to this number.  Last year (2006-07) was the first year that the state's new Ohio Graduation Tests (OGTs) counted for graduation.  This test was much more difficult, measuring knowledge learned through the 10th grade academic content standards as opposed to the 9th Grade Proficiency Tests (NPTs) the OGTs replaced which only measured knowledge learned through the 8th grade academic content standards. Although I don't know it as a fact, I would guess that the sudden change of rigor around graduation requirements contributed to the increased drop-out rate.”

Gordon says, “The graduation rate for all students in CMSD, while improving, remains unacceptably low and the dropout rate remains unacceptably high.  As the data shows, this is a particular concern for our Hispanic students.”

Chief Academic Officer Gordon, said the district is already taking action to learn how to better address the needs of Hispanic students. “In May of this year the district began an eight month study of our English Language Learner (ELL) program. The goal of this study is to help our students who speak English as a second language (the Hispanic community being our largest population of English Language Learner students) by examining academic research and best practices across the country in order to revamp our entire ELL program.  We expect to present the CEO with our findings in December 2008 so that we are prepared to implement changes based upon those findings for the 2009-2010 school year,” said Gordon.  

The district may find some allies to help with its research. In October of 2007, the Education Area Team of Convención Hispana passed a resolution promising to work “to decrease the high school drop out rate of Hispanic students in the northern Ohio region.”

Esperanza, a local educational agency that works to help increase the number of Hispanic students attending college, also has an interest in research leading to a greater understanding of the status of Hispanic students in Cleveland.

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