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.
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.