Latest New York City Graduation Rates
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Posted by Barbara Pytel Jun 30, 2006 |
New York City is trying an experiment. Schools are getting smaller, not larger. Some high schools are down to 300-600 students per school. Critics are saying that this new plan will fail. Maybe and maybe not.
Graduation Rates
New York City's past graduation rates average around 50%. Half of the students do not graduate. The reasons are many but research shows that many students are "bored" with school and see no relevance to their lives.
15 Schools Being Watched
There are 15 schools being watched closely. These are the newly formed "small" schools and NYC Schools Chancellor Joel L. Klein reports that graduation rates are up in the smaller schools.
2006 Results
The new and smaller schools are graduating approximately 73% of students versus the 50% rate of other schools in the city. Smaller class size, relevance, personalized curriculum, choice, and limiting the number of students per teacher have made a difference.
Bring In The Critics -- Again
Critics now argue that it is too early to tell if the recent restructuring has had any effect. Caution is often a good thing but when graduation rates jump from 50% to 73%, many think that is significant and deserves attention.
Critics are also stating that smaller is not better. That can be argued until pigs fly but the fact is that in nearly every state in the U.S., the standardized test scores in the smaller schools are higher than larger schools. Smaller does seem to be better in many cases.
Read more on what NYC is doing in NYC High Schools Go Smaller.
Read previous articles on Educational Issues.
Copyright article 2006 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.