Salt Lake School District students who have graduated early, moved to their native countries or transferred to a private school might be listed as dropouts.
A two-month fall study commissioned by the Salt Lake Board of Education found that nearly 300 of the 1,050 students reported as dropouts actually were in school. The district had reported 8.8 percent of its population as dropouts. Following the study, the number dropped to 6.3 percent.Tracking students listed as dropouts has provided a way to locate them and encourage their return to school, Nancy Woodward, district supervisor of pupil services, told the board Tuesday. She knows of no other districts who have so closely studied dropout reporting in the past few years.
In the future, Woodward hopes school recording procedures will be refined and habitually absent students will be contacted early to prevent dropouts. She also hopes to collaborate with the State Office of Education to amend reporting requirements to more accurately reflect dropout numbers.
The board, which gave $5,000 for the study, applauded the report.
"I think it shows we care about them (students)," Board President Karen Derrick said. "If we expect to keep more kids in school, we need to know the root of the reason they are dropping out."
From Sept. 15 to Nov. 7, social workers and school secretaries helped to call families, neighbors and friends to determine the whereabouts of listed dropouts.
In Utah, dropouts include those who don't graduate on time, are in correctional or vocational programs and whose educational status is unknown.
Documentation varies by district. While Utah schools require transcripts, those elsewhere may require immunization records, the report states. If no records are requested, Utah lists the student as a dropout.
About 13.5 percent of 12th-graders - the majority group - reportedly dropped out. That could be because students thinking they would graduate ended up falling short of credits and hadn't completed an adult program before the October following graduation, Woodward said.
Nearly 15 percent of special education students reportedly dropped out. Yet those students may complete 12 years of school and not meet graduation requirements, Woodward said.
Dropout rates varied according to race but not gender, the report showed.
Some 16 percent of American Indians and 15.5 percent of Hispanics in the district reportedly dropped out. Eight percent of Pacific Islanders and whites and about 9 percent of Asians and blacks were so listed.
Woodward offered several explanations for the numbers. For instance, many American Indians had returned to schools on reservations. Other students had returned to their native countries, and some foreign exchange students had not completed their programs here. Also, some ethnic populations are smaller than others, so few dropouts can equate to large percentages.
After tracking students, the study found that about 8.5 percent of West, 7 percent of Highland and 6.5 of East high school populations had dropped out. Twelve percent of Horizonte students dropped out. Horizonte is an alternative school.
Numbers adjusted after tracking middle school students show 5 percent of Glendale, 3 percent of Bryant, and about 2 percent of Clayton, Hillside and Northwest populations had dropped out.
Unadjusted numbers reported to the state were slightly higher in all schools but Clayton Middle, where numbers were the same.