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Editorial Cites Inaccurate School Survey

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By JAY PFEIFFER

Published: December 5, 2007

The Tampa Tribune's recent editorial "Dropout Rate Might Improve If Schools Measured It Precisely" (Our Opinion, Nov. 28), which discusses Florida dropout and graduation rates, uses a flawed report from Johns Hopkins University as the basis for many of its claims.

The Johns Hopkins "methodology" does not approach the kind of rigorous accounting of high school completion that the editorial would have you believe.

It is an oversimplification that ignores mobility, student retention, class-size requirements, and a number of other important factors. Rather than simply basing results on estimated counts of enrolled freshmen and diploma recipients, Florida tracks every student from the ninth grade through graduation by analyzing individual student records.

This methodology is advocated by the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The editorial also makes statements about Florida concealing graduation data and avoiding perceived problems. This could not be further from the truth.

Each year, Florida publishes graduation and dropout rates at the state, district, and school levels. These results are announced to the public and posted on the department's Web site.

Although these results show we have room for improvement, tremendous gains have been made. In 1998-99, Florida's statewide graduation rate was 60.2 percent. In 2006-07, the rate is 72.4 percent. These rates, calculated consistently over the period, reflect the progress that has been made. Recently implemented high school and middle school reforms, which are only starting to show their benefits, will improve those rates further.

I agree that there is still much work to be done in our high schools; however, it would be misleading to suggest that Florida's graduation rate is somehow inaccurate because it factors GED recipients into its calculation.

The inclusion of GED as a part of Florida's calculation was a statutory requirement in Florida until 2002 when the requirement was dropped from statute. To be consistent over time, we have continued to calculate the rate with GEDs included.

However, to assure that we calculate a rate that is consistent with federal requirements, we also calculate rates that do not include GEDs as a factor. This second type of calculation represents a methodology being pursued and fostered by the National Governor's Association and other organizations for nationwide consistency.

The Florida Department of Education, school districts, community colleges, and universities are collectively committed to improving the successes of all of our students before and after they leave high school. This is the underlying basis for all that we do in public education.

To think otherwise would be a simplistic and uninformed view.

Jay Pfeiffer is the deputy commissioner of accountability, research and measurement for the Florida Department of Education.

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