Delaware high school dropout rate declines

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Graduation Ceremony
danielfoster437 via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

The annual Delaware Department of Education reports from the state  Board of Education, show 547 of 40,287 public school students enrolled in grades 9 to 12 dropped out of school last year, a rate of 1.4 percent.

The dropout rate showed a  decrease from the previous year’s rate of 2.2 percent,  the lowest rate in more than 30 years. The statewide graduation rate also is up slightly. The 2016 rate of 84.66 percent is an increase from 84.3 percent in 2015 and 84.4 percent in 2014. 

“I am proud of the families, educators and community partners who work together throughout the year to provide students — especially those identified as being at risk for leaving school — with the supports they need in and out of the school day so they can complete their educations,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said. “That said, we recognize we still have work to do. Too many of our children still are choosing to leave before earning their diplomas, setting themselves up for great challenges in life.”

The annual dropout rate is calculated from grades 9 to 12, as prescribed by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), which provides data to the federal reporting system.  Data also is collected from private schools and families who home-school their children. That information is only used to verify whether students transferred from public to private and home schools.

The annual report also looks at dropouts by student demographic. Statewide in the 2015-2016 school year, of the 547 who dropped out, 239 were black (43.6 percent), 189 were white/other (34.5 percent) and 119 were Hispanic (21.7 percent).  Looking at the total student enrollment by demographics for 2015-16, 2.2 percent of Hispanic, 1.9 percent of black and 0.9 percent of white/other students dropped out.

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The majority of the 547 dropouts were male (336 or 61.4 percent). And the largest number were enrolled in the 9th grade (188 students or 34.4 percent). Students cited academic, personal and economic reasons for why they left school. 

The state report provides analysis based on demographics and geographic breakdowns, including by county and districts/charter schools. For 2015-16, Kent and New Castle counties had the lowest percentage of dropouts (1.3 percent). Sussex’s rate was 1.6 percent.

Annual Dropout Rate by School
  2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016
High Schools Total Enrollment Total Dropout Dropout Rate Total Enrollment Total Dropout Dropout Rate Total Enrollment Total Dropout Dropout Rate
New Castle County 21,950 454 2.1% 22,521 457 2.0% 22,441 225 1.0%
Middletown HS 1,281 11 0.9% 1,361 12 0.9% 1,446 3 0.2%
Appoquinimink HS 1,539 11 0.7% 1,552 12 0.8% 1,589 7 0.4%
Howard Tech HS 899 6 0.7% 940 11 1.2% 935 3 0.3%
St Georges Tech HS 1,022 0 0.0% 1,043 0 0.0% 1,069 1 0.1%
Paul M. Hodgson 1,048 7 0.7% 1,058 5 0.5% 1,090 4 0.4%
Delcastle Tech HS 1,519 11 0.7% 1,588 3 0.2% 1,604 4 0.2%
Brandywine HS 905 45 5.0% 906 26 2.9% 824 18 2.2%
Concord HS 1,099 20 1.8% 1,086 20 1.8% 1,126 29 2.6%
Mt Pleasant HS 1,032 14 1.4% 1,120 35 3.1% 1,108 8 0.7%
Conrad School of Science 638 1 0.2% 670 0 0.0% 667 0 0.0%
Cab Callaway School of Arts 488 0 0.0% 499 0 0.0% 508 0 0.0%
John Dickinson HS 765 33 4.3% 702 40 5.7% 660 23 3.5%
A. I. duPont HS 1,110 37 3.3% 1,108 17 1.5% 1,093 10 0.9%
Thomas McKean HS 873 26 3.0% 796 24 3.0% 800 10 1.3%
Charter Sch of Wilm 970 5 0.5% 972 2 0.2% 972 1 0.1%
Christiana HS 839 29 3.5% 843 48 5.7% 835 12 1.4%
Glasgow HS 997 30 3.0% 992 26 2.6% 864 21 2.4%
Newark HS 1,549 30 1.9% 1,555 46 3.0% 1,317 16 1.2%
William Penn HS 2,187 79 3.6% 2,173 58 2.7% 2,048 51 2.5%
Delaware Acad of Public Safety 330 17 5.2% 363 30 8.3% 303 3 1.0%
Delaware Mil. Acad. 568 1 0.2% 569 5 0.9% 564 1 0.2%
MOT Charter School 166 2 0 312 0 0
Newark Charter 161 0 0.0% 321 1 0.3% 474 0 0.0%
Kent County 8,415 131 1.6% 8,707 169 1.9% 8,668 84 1.0%
Positive Outcomes 85 1 1.2% 98 5 5.1% 97 3 3.1%
Caesar Rodney HS 2,037 28 1.4% 2,011 37 1.8% 2,003 19 0.9%
Dover HS 1,696 26 1.5% 1,866 39 2.1% 1,800 27 1.5%
ECHS at DSU 129 13 0 209 0 0
Polytech HS 1,206 1 0.1% 1,192 13 1.1% 1,194 1 0.1%
Lake Forest HS 890 19 2.1% 934 16 1.7% 952 8 0.8%
Milford SR HS 1,049 26 2.5% 1,043 23 2.2% 1,008 11 1.1%
Smyrna HS 1,452 28 1.9% 1,434 23 1.6% 1,405 15 1.1%
Sussex County 7,334 135 1.8% 7,650 154 2.0% 7,902 130 1.6%
Sussex Academy 52 1 1.9% 113 5 4.4% 205 1 0.5%
Cape Henlopen HS 1,283 10 0.8% 1,351 9 0.7% 1,382 8 0.6%
Delmar Sr HS 624 5 0.8% 639 8 1.3% 649 7 1.1%
Indian River HS 910 15 1.6% 859 6 0.7% 884 6 0.7%
Sussex Central Sr HS 1,228 27 2.2% 1,316 65 4.9% 1,450 51 3.5%
Laurel Sr HS 479 24 5.0% 502 20 4.0% 481 19 4.0%
Seaford Sr HS 697 39 5.6% 719 20 2.8% 751 14 1.9%
Sussex Tech HS 1,491 2 0.1% 1,545 8 0.5% 1,444 1 0.1%
Woodbridge HS 570 12 2.1% 606 13 2.1% 656 23 3.5%
Note: Special Schools and ILCs are NOT included in this table.   All schools include grades 9 to 12.

Graduation rate

The graduation rate tracks the percentage of 9th students who graduate within four years.

While the annual dropout rate provides information about one particular school year and all students enrolled in high school in that year, the graduation rate provides information about a particular group of students followed over the course of high school. It looks at all students who started high school at the 9th grade and how many graduated within four years. For this year’s data, that means students who started 9th grade in the 2012/13 school year.

This year’s rate is the highest since the state changed how it calculates graduation rates in 2010-11.

Last year, out of 9,867 students in the Class of 2016, 8,353 students graduated with a regular diploma. The Class of 2016 graduation rate was 80.6 percent for Hispanic, 81.1 percent for black students and 87.6 percent for white students.

The Class of 2016 four-year graduation rate was 65.81 percent for students with disabilities and 71.83 percent for English learner students, an increase from last year (63.7 percent and 68.7 percent respectively). 

The state also looks at five- and six-year graduation rates. The graduation rate for the Class of 2014 was 84.4% at the end of four years, 85.8% at the end of five years and 86.0% at the end of six years.

For the Class of 2014, English learner students and students with disabilities showed the greatest gains from their four-year graduation rate to their six-year graduation rate, going from 75.0 percent to 78.8 percent and 64.1 percent to 68.2 percent, respectively. 

Four-Year Graduation Rates by District/Charter

Class of 2014, 2015 and 2016

District/Charter 2014 2015 2016
Appoquinimink 94.7% 94.2% 89.8%
Brandywine 84.6% 85.4% 89.7%
Caesar Rodney 88.5% 84.5% 84.8%
Cape Henlopen 91.0% 85.8% 88.9%
Capital  83.1% 83.4% 80.7%
Christina 74.5% 71.5% 69.4%
Colonial  80.8% 77.6% 70.2%
Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security 76.9% 81.6%
Delmar  92.3% 88.4% 82.2%
Indian River 89.0% 84.9% 82.9%
Lake Forest 82.1% 82.2% 82.3%
Laurel  76.7% 80.5% 75.0%
Milford  84.2% 83.0% 88.7%
New Castle County Vocational-Technical 93.6% 94.1% >95%
Polytech >95% >95% >95%
Positive Outcomes 54.6% 73.7% 91.3%
Red Clay
(includes Charter School of Wilmington and Delaware Military Academy)
90.3% 89.3% 88.8%
Seaford 79.7% 79.8% 78.1%
Smyrna 77.6% 86.5% 88.6%
Sussex Technical >95% >95% >95%
Woodbridge 82.7% 81.6% 79.3%

Note: Districts/Charters with 15 or fewer students are not included in the table above. Graduation rates include all accountability schools within the local education agency..

Four-Year Graduation Rates by School

Class of 2014, 2015 and 2016

School 2014 2015 2016
A I duPont High 88.3% 87.0% 83.7%
Appoquinimink High >95% >95% 88.1%
Brandywine High 82.6% 83.0% 83.6%
Caesar Rodney High 90.3% 86.6% 86.5%
Calloway School of the Arts >95% >95% >95%
Cape Henlopen High 94.0% 87.6% 91.1%
Charter School of Wilmington >95% >95% >95%
Christiana High 75.9% 67.3% 65.0%
Concord High 89.0% 85.6% 89.9%
Conrad Schools of Science >95% >95% >95%
Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security 76.9% 81.6%
Delaware Military Academy >95% >95% >95%
Delcastle Technical High 94.1% 91.6% 94.6%
Delmar High 92.3% 88.4% 82.2%
Dickinson High 81.0% 75.9% 73.8%
Dover High 86.7% 87.4% 83.8%
Glasgow High 76.6% 73.6% 72.1%
Hodgson Vocational Technical High >95% >95% >95%
Howard High School of Technology 89.7% 91.1% 93.8%
Indian River High 93.7% 88.0% 90.4%
Lake Forest High 82.5% 82.6% 82.3%
Laurel Senior High 76.7% 81.6% 75.0%
McKean High 85.2% 80.2% 84.2%
Middletown High 93.9% 92.1% 91.8%
Milford High 85.7% 84.9% >95%
Mount Pleasant High 79.0% 87.7% 94.4%
Newark High 80.2% 75.6% 71.4%
Polytech High >95% >95% >95%
Positive Outcomes 54.6% 73.7% 91.3%
Seaford High 80.1% 79.8% 78.1%
Smyrna High 77.6% 86.5% 88.6%
St. Georges Technical High >95% >95% >95%
Sussex Central High 88.5% 87.1% 80.5%
Sussex Technical High >95% >95% >95%
William Penn High 84.2% 80.4% 73.9%
Woodbridge High 82.7% 81.6% 79.3%

Note: Schools with 15 or fewer students are not included in the table above.

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