BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1497
AUTHOR: Negrete McLeod
INTRODUCED: February 24, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 18, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Annual dropout report.
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits a pupil from being included more than
one time in the dropout rates used for the Annual Report on
Dropouts in California.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
submit, by August 1, 2011, and annually thereafter,
the Annual Report on Dropouts in California. This
report is to include the following information:
a) One-year dropout rates for each of grades
7-12.
b) Four-year cohort dropout rates for grades
9-12.
c) Two-or three-year cohort dropout rates for
middle schools.
d) Grades 9-10 promotion rates.
e) Percentage of high school pupils for each of
grades 9-12 who are on track to earn sufficient
credits to graduate.
f) The average number of school moves that
pupils make between grades 6-12.
g) "Full year" dropout rates for alternative
schools, including dropout recovery high schools.
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h) An explanation of the method used to
calculate "full year" dropout rates for
alternative schools.
i) Passage rates on the high school exit exam.
j) Other available data relating to dropout or
graduation rates or pupil progress toward high
school graduation. (EC � 48070.6)
2) Requires the report to include all of the following
when cohort dropout rates can be calculated accurately
using longitudinal data:
a) Rates at which pupils graduate in four,
five, and six years.
b) Percentage of high school graduates and
dropouts who completed coursework that met
admission criteria for the University of
California and the California State University
(completed a-g courses).
c) Percentage of high school graduates and
dropouts who completed at least two classes in
career technical education (CTE).
d) Percentage of high school graduates and
dropouts who completed both a-g and CTE courses.
e) Behavioral data by school and district,
including suspensions and expulsions.
f) Truancy rates.
g) Rates of pupils to earn a GED.
h) Chronic absentee rates. (EC � 48070.6)
Dropout rates are determined using a four-year cohort; a
cohort dropout rate is the number of cohort students who
dropped out of school over the course of four years divided
by the number of first time 9th graders from full four
years prior plus students who transfer in and minus
students who transfer out during the last four years.
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The California Department of Education (CDE) began
reporting cohort graduation and dropout rates on the CDE
DataQuest website in August 2011, beginning with 2009-10
data. Only the four year cohort graduation rates were
available for the first Annual Report on Dropouts (class of
2009-10). Five year cohort rates will be available for the
class of 2010-11, and six year cohort rates will be
available for the class of 2011-12.
Current law defines a "dropout recovery high school" as a
high school in which at least 50% of the pupils have been
designated as dropouts pursuant to the exit/withdrawal
codes developed by the California Department of Education.
Graduation rates for dropout recovery high schools are not
included in the API. (EC � 52052)
ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits a pupil from being included more than
one time in the dropout rates indicated in the Annual
Report on Dropouts in California.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "Students
who are initially part of a given 4-year cohort who
drop out are removed from the cohort so that if they
reenroll and dropout again, they are counted as a
dropout from their original cohort but are not counted
as a dropout a second time. Confusion occurs when
dropouts who reenroll after the graduation date of
their cohort and then drop out again. These students
should not be counted as a dropout a second time even
though they are outside of the original cohort. This
is particularly important as states attempt to raise
graduation rates as a component of Adequate Yearly
Progress. The risk of entering program improvement
because the school or district is willing to reengage
students who demonstrate a 4 in 5 likelihood of
dropping out again should not be a consequence of this
nation's education policy."
2) Inquiry to United States Department of Education . The
Chair of this Committee and the author of this bill
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recently sent an inquiry to the U.S. Secretary of
Education, asking for guidance on how to account for
former dropouts who reengage in school but again drop
out. A response has not yet been received.
3) What about the data ? This bill prohibits a pupil from
being included in the dropout rates indicated in the
Annual Report on Dropouts in California. Data from
the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System (CalPADS) is used to develop the dropout
report, but this bill does not prohibit a pupil from
being counted twice in the CalPADS data. Dropout
rates are used for other purposes in addition to the
annual dropout report, such as the Academic
Performance Index. Staff recommends an amendment to
prohibit CalPADS from counting a pupil as a dropout
more than one time, thereby ensuring that any use of
the dropout data will include the same data.
4) First annual dropout report . The first Annual Report
on Dropouts in California was released in August 2011,
and showed that slightly more than 18% of pupil who
started high school in 2006 dropped out before
reaching graduation in 2010. The 18.2% statewide
dropout rate was for the first time based on four-year
cohort information collected about individual students
using data from CalPADS. Dropout rates continue to
show gaps between students who are Hispanic, African
American, or English learners and their peers. The
report also revealed that, among other things, more
than 17,000 or 3.5%, pupils in 8th grade dropped out
of school before entering 9th grade.
This report did not include all the information required by
law because some data was not available at the time.
Most of the data is now available and will be included
in the next annual report. However, CDE indicates
that data will not be available and is not in the
scope of the CalPADS contract relative to dropouts who
completed a-g courses or CTE courses, or both.
5) Prior legislation . SB 473 (Price, 2011) would have
added to the Annual Report on Dropouts in California
the number of schools that offer dropout prevention or
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recovery, and required the CDE to list those schools
on its website. SB 473 was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
San Francisco Unified School District
School for Integrated Academics & Technologies
OPPOSITION
None on file.