I was very surprised at the statistics in this article. I thought the national average (70%), of students graduating from high school would be much higher. Also that only 63% of students from NC graduate high school. It did not surprise me that Asian students had the highest rate of graduation and black the lowest. We have been talking about this as a country for a while now. A few years back I attended a national conference on Closing the Achievement Gap between students of different races. Schools have made progress in these areas but their is still more work to be done. I was even more alarmed to review Table 9 and see that only 32% of high school graduates are ready for colledge. As teachers we need to find ways to bring this persentage up.

I agree with you, Lori. I was very surprised to see that the graduation rate in NC was 63%! I would have guessed it to me in the 80th percentile range at least. I am wondering and thinking about what more we can do to raise the graduation rate. I feel that as a first grade teacher, I do "give it all I got" so to speak...what are some suggestions as to what more we can do as teachers to raise the graduation rate in our state? Any ideas?

The sad thing is that Lori is right. And this all ties in with what Kozol has said in Savage Inequalities. The haves have more options and resources (money, materials, staff) at their disposal. The have nots in inner cities suffer the most. I'm thinking that someone will have a good plan (hopefully not a business, especially the ways business leaders talked in Kozol's words) that will shake it up and distribute equally. It really makes me nervous that our kids aren't getting what is best for them.

Did you all find it very surprising that North Carolina had missing racial group data? I just felt like NC would be a leader in this type of information. Do you think with NCLB NC now keeps records that would show percentages?

Yes, I was also surprised. I think this information is out there.

I was very dissappointed that the data was missing for NC--after all, that's the stuff that really matters and means the most to me. WoW! I guess I knew our graduation rate wasn't stellar because every year (as a hs teacher) our school improvement team meets and lowering the drop-out rate is a high priority. Most of the students that I see drop out do so as soon as they can, typically as sophomores. They drop out for a variety of reasons, at least the ones I've "interviewed." (I always nose around, asking my students why they are quitting) Some students say that high school is keeping them from making money. they could be working in the family business, etc., and they don't need to graduate. Others are disenfranchised, so to speak. They hate school, feel like failures, and often have failed so much that they just give up. Others have told me that they can just get section eight and food stamps, although I really hope they were just speaking tongue-in-cheek.

Are there studies being conducted to figure out ways to keep kids in school? I do feel like the Early Colleges might provide some incentive...