Report: The state's high school graduation rate is not high

Report: The state's high school graduation rate is not high (Alberta Times) According to a study released by a group of educational institutions on Monday, although the reading scores of fourth and eighth grade students have improved...

Report: State’s high school graduation rates are low (Alberta Times) High school graduation rates in Arizona and New Mexico have been on a downward trend despite improvements in reading scores among fourth- and eighth-graders, according to a study released Monday by a group of educational institutions. The report shows Arizona ranks fifth and New Mexico ranks sixth when it comes to childhood poverty. Both states also have more Hispanic and Native students than any other state in the country, but these two groups appear to have lower high school graduation rates than other groups. According to the report, the state's high school graduation rate was 74.7% in 2002 and 72.5% in 2009. New Mexico was even worse, from 67.4% to 64.8%. To this end, the state’s education department has made reforms, such as establishing educational and career planning programs for American students in 2008 and conducting annual dropout prevention meetings for teachers and principals at every grade. These efforts have paid off gratifyingly. The latest data shows that the graduation rate increased from 73.4% in 2007 to 76.1% in 2009. Researchers point to solutions such as requiring all students to read throughout the grade, raising the age at which students can attend school to 18, and establishing early warning mechanisms to identify students who are likely to drop out early. In his State of the Union address, President Obama encouraged states to enact legislation requiring students to graduate or turn 18 before leaving school. The report estimates that high school graduates’ lifetime income is 130,000 yuan more than dropouts, and their lifetime tax revenue and contribution to government spending is more than 200,000 yuan more than dropouts.