Portsmouth has the lowest on-time graduation rate in the state, with less than 57 percent of the students who entered ninth grade for the first time in 2004 earning a diploma within four years, according to data released Wednesday by the Virginia Department of Education.
Nearly 50 percent of the Portsmouth boys who began high school four years ago did not graduate this year, according to the statistics.
Superintendent David Stuckwisch said his city’s numbers were incorrect, however. Schools didn’t accurately track students who left, so some who transferred out may have been marked as dropouts, he said.
“The state is dealing with what we gave them,” Stuckwisch said. “We didn’t give them good figures.”
Two other South Hampton Roads cities ranked among the bottom 20 of the 131 Virginia school divisions reporting numbers: Norfolk, with a 71.1 percent graduation rate, and Suffolk, at 71.9 .
Chesapeake (85.8) and Virginia Beach (82.6) exceeded the state’s average number of 81.3 percent.
The statistics reflect the most accurate public high school four-year graduation rates ever reported in Virginia, according to Charles Pyle, a spokesman for the state education department. Estimates used in the past, including the formula that led some high schools to be labeled “dropout factories” last year , failed to account for transfers or students who repeated the ninth grade.
For the “on-time” graduation count, officials tracked each public school student by an identification number assigned during the 2004-05 school year.
Students who earned one of five types of diplomas approved by the Virginia Board of Education in four years were considered on-time graduates. Those receiving a GED or a certification of completion were included in a school’s completion rate, but not in its on-time graduation rate.
The rates at South Hampton Roads’ 29 high schools ranged from 45.5 percent at Wilson in Portsmouth to 91.8 percent at Hickory in Chesapeake .
Breakdowns by race and gender generally showed that black students, low-income students and boys in South Hampton Roads graduated at rates between 1 and 12 percentage points lower than their city’s average.
School divisions tracked the information for the past four years. They were allowed to review the statistics and offer corrections between June and September, Pyle said in an e-mail message.
Six corrections were requested by Portsmouth before Sept. 1. On Sept. 16, Stuckwisch told state officials he believed there were major errors in the data. Portsmouth was allowed an additional two weeks and submitted 156 more changes, according to Pyle.
Most of those corrections involved eliminating students from the statistics who were marked as first-time freshmen but were actually repeating the grade, Stuckwisch said.
He became aware of Portsmouth’s low numbers in late summer, he said, and blamed poor record-keeping. “It has created a serious embarrassment for the school system,” Stuckwisch said
The superintendent said he believes Portsmouth’s on-time graduation rate is about 70 percent.
The state plans to release data about dropouts early next year. Dropouts are students who left school, are not temporarily absent due to illness or suspension and have neither enrolled in nor completed an approved education program.
The Virginia Board of Education adopted the new graduation rate formula in 2006, in response to the General Assembly’s direction to compile more comprehensive information about high school completion. The class of 2008 is the first year for which four-year graduation and completion statistics are available in Virginia.
A National Governors Association task force recommended the formula, and 44 other states have committed to calculating graduation rates in that manner by 2012.
Virginia’s on-time graduation rate ranks among the highest tallied by a handful of states that calculate statistics using the same formula. The 2008 number in North Carolina was 69.9 percent.
The results in South Hampton Roads:
VIRGINIA BEACH
The 82.6 percent rate was about a percentage point higher than the state average .
Among 11 high schools, Bayside had the lowest rate, 73.2, while Cox was highest, 91.4 percent.
“Our ultimate goal is 100 percent,” said Jared Cotton, assistant superintendent for assessment. Principals will use the data as a baseline to set goals and make improvements, he said. A continued focus will be the ninth-grade year, when many students tend to struggle.
CHESAPEAKE
Five of seven high schools had rates above the state average of 81.3 percent: Grassfield, Great Bridge, Hickory, Indian River and Western Branch.
The city’s numbers ranged from 77.8 percent at Oscar Smith to 91.8 at Hickory.
The graduation rates provide “an opportunity for us to … strategize where we go from here,” said Patricia Powers, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
NORFOLK
Students at Booker T. Washington graduated at the highest rate among the city’s five high schools, with 75.5 percent. Lake Taylor was at the low end, with 64.6 percent.
Norfolk’s rate was about 10 percentage points lower than the state’s.
Administrators said they were not satisfied, though they pointed out that Norfolk’s number was higher than school divisions with similar resources and student populations, such as Petersburg and Newport News.
For about five years, the School Board has focused on strengthening high school programs.
“The 71 percent does not represent our fate,” said Melinda Boone, the division’s chief academic officer. “It represents where we are currently on the journey, not where we’re going to stay.”
PORTSMOUTH
When Wilson Principal Timothy Johnson heard that a state report said 45.5 percent of his school’s students graduated on-time this year, he said he’d have to investigate the numbers.
According to the statistics, just 38 percent of the boys who began their freshman year at Wilson in 2004 received diplomas by this year.
The city’s other high schools also posted rates under the state average: 68.0 percent at Churchland and 52.6 percent at I.C. Norcom.
Told of the overall number for Portsmouth, 56.7 percent, School Board Chairman James Bridgeford said, “I definitely hope that that percentage is not true.”
SUFFOLK
On-time graduation rates ranged from 67 percent at King’s Fork to 80.6 percent at Nansemond River.
“Surprised? No, because the graduation rate reports that have come in earlier … we’ve been pretty close to what this is,” said Kevin Alston, assistant superintendent for administrative services. “Disappointed? Yes.”
Suffolk’s numbers for low-income students (59.4) and students with disabilities (58.2) were the lowest in those categories among South Hampton Roads school divisions.
This year, the city’s high schools began pairing at-risk students with mentors, Alston said. The division also offers after-school remediation and ninth-grade transition programs to ease the move from middle to high school, among other measures.
Pilot writers Hattie Brown Garrow, Cheryl Ross, Lauren Roth and Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer contributed to this report. Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com
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HELP WANTED
Drop outs wanted - no diploma necessary. I have a shovel, a ditch that needs digging, and pay $9.55 per hour, pay 100% of your health insurance, and match your 401K contribution - all you have to do to keep this job is show up to work every day; no excuses accepted - (this is not like high school).
Demographic/ Social Inequalities
I have read the comments from article and not at all surprise at the consistent opinions people continue to have. Others are quick to assume that the reason some of the cities in the local HR area have low graduation scores were to the parents being on welfare, kids carrying $100cell phones, listening to hip hop music. All you really have to do is look at the demographics.Median incomes in Portsmount and Norfolk are lower than those in Chesapeake/Va Beach. Not all children living in these areas have parents living on a government check THEY ARE LIVING CHECK TO CHECK just like any working class family. Most parents want the best for their children and would like for them to have a better life than how they were raised. Stop assuming these are lazy parents, some do not have the luxury of working 8-5 and having an extra pair of hands to take our children to after school activities much less afford the fees to pay for them. in the Northern VA area are some of the best in the nation and produce an excellents array of professionals.
Re: Barbara
They would earn their driving privileges when they reach a certain age, perhaps 18, but while they are of school age then yes I stand by the belief that by not giving them the privilege to drive (or taking their privilege away until they receive passing grades) would encourage them to pass and attend school. What kind of job will they hold anyway without a high school diploma or equivalent? Not a good enough job to be self supportive.
Driving Privilege
Vagirl, if a student cannot or will not get through school why would you want to take away the best means they have of becoming a self-sufficient person? It would be far better for them to be able to get to a job if they aren't going to school. Using your method of denying driving would mean that entire families would be unable to get to work. That's not a solution, it is a punishment. This state already takes away too many driver's licenses for things that haven't got anything to do with driving. Nobody benefits from this.
A black male at Woodrow Wilson hardly has a chance of success, it would be wrong to further disenfranchise him by not allowing him to drive. Kicking people down further does not make them work harder, it kills their spirits and their hopes. Remember that old addage "The beatings will continue until morale improves"? It doesn't work.
What---
Hey "Fergus" --- what in the world does school lunch have to do with anything? Now you want to blame a lunch for a students failure? What next it rained too much? You seem to be a BIG pert of the issue here.
Excuses
The statistics want to differentiate between race, economic status, etc. Thats nothing more than a copout. It's up to every parent to ensure their child gets a good education. If the child fails seven times out of ten the parent is at fault. That however doesn't take the responsibilty off the student. Barack Obama is a wonderful example of starting off in a bad situation and not giving in. He made it and the rest of these kids can too. No excuses!
Parents are the key.
Parents are the key. Simple.
Limit the Driving Privileges
I think Virginia ought to follow in the footsteps of some of the other states. A no pass no driver's license law. This way if you aren't making the grade or attending school regularly you don't get the privilege of driving. If the parents are implementing "consequences" then someone has to. Parents also need to step up and make sure their kids are attending school and making acceptable grades. The school systems need to cease lowering the standards as the students of the past received "zero" grades for not turning in work, had to take a certain amount of math, etc. and the graduation rates were higher back then. The more we lower the standards the lazier the kids seem to get.
It starts at home...
My kids are in Portsmouth schools and do exceedingly well. My sophomore already has 1/3 of the credits she needs to graduate with an advanced diploma and will begin college classes through the high school in her junior year.
That being said, my children have two parents at home, both of whom are college educated. The expectations and the examples were set for them early...high school graduation and college are simply the normal and usual things to do.
Now, consider the plight of a child from a broken home, who may have a parent who is incarcerated, who may be functionally illiterate, who may be drug addicted, who may be on welfare or working a very low paying job. What is their definition of "normal" and how hard does this make the job of their teachers? In addition to teaching curriculum, they are faced with the child's own low expectations of him/herself.
Earning Graduation
First of all, Virginia has set requirements for attaining either a standard diploma or a certification of attendance. This is called Standards of Learning (SOLS). In order for ANY student to walk across that stage on graduation day, they must meet the STATE's requirements for graduation. That includes passing certain MATH, ENGLISH, SCIENCE and SOCIAL SCIENCES, SOLs before they head off into the real world as either a high school graduate or as someone who attended public school for however many years, but at the time of their graduation, they failed to complete or pass the required SOLS. Virginia IS trying to raise the bar, and it says "lets stop sending uneducated people into the work force who can't read, write or do simple math. Portsmouth's problem is the student population and condtions that the teachers and staff are required to teach. A lot of students from low income areas, NOT AL
low graduaton number
Their is no discipline at home and no discipline at school. Lazy parents promote lazy children. No one wants to volenteer to help when the kids are scary. Schools need to stop trying the make the students feel good about themselves and teach them real english, math, history, government, and geography. They will feel good about themselves when the excel. The kids need to do it for themselves because 95% of the parents dont' care and nothing is going to change that in the near future, except for maybe Jesus coming back. Stop all the mambee pambeeing about poor Johnny, the more structured and strict the school the better the education and the kid.
Grow up parents
The federal government now has a administration system instead of a educational one.Our teachers are forced to promote by guidelines instead of achievement.We have no more teachers that educate,we now have administrators.This is now how the school system represents itself to the federal government,by directive.Show me the numbers and get your tokens,no numbers above the guidelines no tokens.Let the teachers go back and educate with the passion they once enjoyed and as parents send our children back to school with the desire to better themselves through that education.Grow up parents and be counted with your child as present not administrated up the line.
Virginia
Several posters mentioned what VIRGINIA needs to do to raise the graduation rate or that most of the students who do graduate in VIRGINIA don't deserve it. This isn't exactly a VIRGINIA-only problem. 80% is higher than the national average, first of all. Further, I think we need to alter No Child Left Behind if we are worried that some of those who do graduate don't deserve to graduate.
Free lunch?
"Many students already know how to beat the system. Their parents lie for them so they can get "free or reduced" lunches"
I take it you haven't had the pleasure of eating school food lately...LOL. School food is not the healthy food they served back in the 60s. Pure garbage.
Don't blame the schools
As a teacher I can testify how hard schools are working to educate children. Teachers spend hours and hours developing outstanding lesson plans. Public schools have multiple programs to help students be successful. Administrators are working around the clock to provide safe and secure environments for kids and to give teachers support on improving instruction.
The problem today is not with the schools, but what the schools have inherited. We see all of the problems that society in general is not addressing: homelessness, abuse, gangs, divorce, lack of parental involvement, disabilities, mental disorders, neglect, just to name a few.
How can schools graduate at 100% when they have to deal with all of these other problems? I think we should be happy to see the numbers as high as they are. I think this shows that we are trying. Schools of today are different than three decades ago.
Instead of complaining about our schools, why don't you get off your butt and volunteer. See what we have to face everyday. Offer to tutor our kids. Become a mentor and be a positive influence for our students. Stop criticizing our schools, when you have no clue what we face.
Enabling
"We" enable these kids. They are responsible for nothing and nothing is ever their fault. I am a teacher and on a DAILY basis parents are always blaming the teachers and administrators for their child's behavior. Parents are not teaching their children to be responsible for their own behavior and actions. We are constantly lowing standards, giving 50's instead of zero's for nothing, give them days, weeks even months to complete assignments and all parents have to do is the call the school and rules can be changed or bent to accomodate any situation. It truly is a sad day in the educational system. Being a part of it and seeing it up close day to day, makes me very sad. All I can do is go in every day, do what I think is right and in the best interest of the child and hope that the administration will support me.
LET THEM ALL GRADUATE
Check Sunday's Virginian Pilot - the answer to this problem is on the front page. No more zeros for no work. Problem solved. Virginia Beach will institute this policy very soon. I predict it will be in the middle of this school year. Kids are NOT stupid and will figure this out. No one will be left behind ever again.
Many are already following their parents lead..
Many students already know how to beat the system. Their parents lie for them so they can get "free or reduced" lunches, yet they walk around with cell phones, $100 sneakers, $300.00 jeans. Yes...$300.00 jeans. Heck, they even keep the tags on the clothes so they can show they're the real deal. If they can afford that, then they do not need to be getting free or reduced lunch. Don't try to explain away the phone as a necessity, because its not. Now, they don't need to work for their grades, they can do nothing and still get a 60. As one poster indicated, MTV showed Ol Dirty Ba$tard of Wu Tang Clan driving his limo to pick up a welfare check. How ridiculous! I'm sure in a couple of years, they'll find a way to fudge the numbers so that there is 100% graduation rate, 100% of all schools are SOL "accredited" and that 100% meet their "Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)". Adequate seems appropriate. Thats all society expects anymore from today's teens..to be "adequate".
dano
You also misspelled "writers" in your original post. Only one "t" next time. But I guess you were being sarcastic as you said later. Apparently you were being too subtle about it....
de & marym
…subtle sarcasism is lost on this bunch..get a sense of humor..somone please check my speling n grammer
Why graduate from high
Why graduate from high school when your parents are on welfare and get a check in the mail every month for doing nothing. If we stop entitlements maybe people will actually take personal responsibility and work to get good grades and a good job. I do not believe high school drop outs are stupid, they are just unmotivated and/or lazy.
How many were illegal immigrants or children of illegals?
They make up a huge percentage of the failure to complete numbers in other States and that should be discussed.
Some good ideas
1-What are the root causes or reasons that 20% of high school students do not complete the 12th grade?
Parents and people who should be setting examples for the children. Children emulate what they learn. If they learn that wearing the latest styles and acting like Paris Hilton gets them attention then that is what they will do. But if hard work, ethics, and tenacity are instilled from a young age then they will learn that corrupt government officials will screw them over(sorry for the sarcasm).
2-What can we as a society do to improve this situation?
Everyone should be better role models and we should strive to teach our children to behave and dress appropriately.
3-What is the cost differential (or delta) to improve schools?
No cost involved if everyone participated but in today's world everyone is looking to blame someone else instead of helping to try to fix it.
Don't throw any more money at the problem
This is an issue not just in Virginia but across the country. My husband is from upstate NY and they have one of the highest school taxes in the nation but their schools still fail. You can create a hundred more socio-economic service organizations that are supposed to assist parents and children to get ahead in school and it will not change things - it will only cost the taxpayers more money. The root problem lies in the entitlement society in which we live. People seem to think they are owed something - this includes education. If you can get paid without a degree and working, why go to school? Another problem is the glorification of stupidity in the media. One example, is the "gangsta" mentality. MTV showing children a rap star wanna-be using a limo to go to Social Security to pick up his check is just one example. There are hundreds more across all racial lines. If the parents are not hard-working and successful (not just economically), then it is pretty much a given that the children will not be inclined to achieve.
Ethan is on the right track
a lot of kids today just don't care. They get everything handed to them, have no responsibility, do not have to take responsibility for their own actions. With the liberal changes in the school systems, you know, don't hold them back a grade it is bad for their self esteem. Don't give them zeros for not doing work, just give them a 60 or whatever they didn't earn. You can not teach anyone that does not want to learn. The problem lies within the students AND, more importantly their PARENTS.
Regional Rack and Stack
It would be nice if the database allowed us to see how the schools in the area measured up without needing to select them one at a time. It is comforting to see that some of our schools are on the right track, but the issue goes to the family before the school even becomes involved. In a perfect world our students would arrive at school with the desire to achieve, supported by family and faculty, nor forced or prodded. Good luck to all. As our future leaders, we need the interest!
Hmm
Years ago (before 2004) I barely graduated from high school. I just wasn't really interested in it. I was close to not graduating with my class. I owe it to two teachers who I think might have shoved me through. If they ever call me on it, I guess I owe them lunch! I do think we need more kids involved in science, technology, music, etc. Everyone is so focused on sports, which is mostly non-productive. Perhaps entertaining, but last weeks game is quickly forgotten this week unless something bad happened or a record was set.
High School Statistics
In addition to an accurate drop out rate, a statistic that should be tabulated and published is the number of kids that eventually do graduate as a percentage of the total that started high school in their peer group. While four years is obviously preferred, if the requirements are satisfied in five years, is that necessarily a bad thing? There are the negative issues of additional cost for five years and the adequacy of the K-8 preparation, but a young person can at least point to the diploma. Conversely, the system should also allow for a three year graduation if a child can master the material in that time. The U.S. is still using an educational model that originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Statistical comparisons are only as meaningful as the data allows. The current K-12 model is static when it should be dynamic.
Okay
We could all cut/paste the story and run spell check or grammar check on MS Word. We also could all slap each other around on spelling or grammatical errors in each post.
The leading questions that demand answers are:
1-What are the root causes or reasons that 20% of high school students do not complete the 12th grade?
2-What can we as a society do to improve this situation?
3-What is the cost differential (or delta) to improve schools?
Do we need the state or federal government to step in to fix this? My immediate response would be “No (expletive) way”! School board-without dipping into my wallet, what is your plan for correct this?
Until the underlying causes and/or issues are accurately identified, the outcome will be similar to what we are currently experiencing.
Problem Solved
As a former student in the Norfolk Public School system many years ago, the problem is we got away from Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic a longtime ago. If we just went back to basics and held students accountable we would have a better graduation rate. We need to get away from the social aspect of teaching and go back to the core and while we’re at it, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and allow time for Prayer.