Civic Report No. 31 November 2002 Public School Graduation Rates in the United States WHAT THE PRESS SAID Florida's miserable graduation rate By Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, Tallahassee Democrat, 11-25-02 Florida lags in high school grad rates Contra Costa Times, 11-28-02 Study: New Mexico graduation rate just below national average New Mexico Business Journal, 11-15-02 Florida ranked last in graduation rate Boston Globe, 11-25-02 State’s low graduation rank disputed The News-Press, 11-25-02 Illinois graduation rate 77% Chicago Sun-Times, 11-23-02 Graduation rate lowest in nation, group says TCPalm.com, 11-22-02 Big districts may explain poor ranking in grad rates Gainesville Sun, 11-22-02 Study says few graduate here, but state officials disagree The Daytona Beach News-Journal, 11-22-02 Graduation rates in Florida nation's lowest The Florida Times-Union, 11-21-02 Study Says Florida Ranks Last In Graduation Rates News4Jax.com, 11-21-02 Florida's rate of graduations worst in U.S. Orlando Sentinel, 11-21-02 Florida dead last in graduation rate study St. Petersburg Times, 11-21-02 Study says Florida has worst high school graduation rate in U.S. Sun Sentinel, 11-21-02 Disputed study ranks Florida last in graduation rates Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 11-21-02 State's graduation rate worst in U.S., study shows Bradenton Herald, 11-21-02 Hawaii’s high school grad rate put at 69% Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 11-21-02 Florida's graduation rates are worst in country, study says The Miami Herald, 11-21-02 State again ranks lowest in graduation rates for blacks Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11-20-02 Florida has lowest grad rates in U.S. report says Florida Today, 11-20-02

EMAIL THIS | PRINTER FRIENDLY CR 31 PDF (67 kb) WHAT THE PRESS SAID SUMMARY: This study uses a straightforward and reliable method to estimate the percentage of public high school students from the class of 2000 in the United States who actually graduated. Building on Dr. Greene’s work in a similar study on the class of 1998, the authors determine that only 69% actually graduated nationwide. While 76% of white public school students and 79% of Asian students graduate, the study finds that only 55% of African-American students, 53% of Hispanic, and 57% of Native American students do so. The study also gives the overall and ethnic group graduation rates of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, finding that for students from each of the three under-performing ethnic groups there were six states with graduation rates under 50%. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Executive Summary About the Authors Acknowledgments Introduction Method Results Conclusion Endnotes Table 1: Graduation Rates by State and Race Table 2: Ranking of Graduation Rates by State Table 3: Ranking of White Graduation Rates by State Table 4: Ranking of African-American Graduation Rates by State Table 5: Ranking of Hispanic Graduation Rates by State Table 6: Ranking of Asian Graduation Rates by State Table 7: Ranking of Native American Graduation Rates by State Table 8: Comparison of Greene Method and NCES Graduation Rates by State Table 9: Comparison of 1998 and 2000 Greene Method Graduation Rates by State