Information Services Statistical Reports
Dropout Rates 1994 - 1995

March 1996

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to issue our annual publication, Dropout Rates in Massachusetts Public Schools: 1995. This report represents an attempt to assess the holding power of Massachusetts public schools to determine how well our schools are doing in graduating their students.

In prior years, this report was issued 12 months or more after the conclusion of the school year. Because it offers important information about students who dropped out of school during the 1994-95 reporting year, I have moved its completion and release date as far ahead as practical.

The value of continuing one's education through graduation from high school, at the very least, was underscored in a recent report entitled The State of the American Dream in New England, issued by Mass Inc., a non-partisan think tank. According to this report, the 1994 median real income of families headed by someone with less than a high school education was only $23,192. This jumped to $37,780 for families headed by a high school graduate. What's more, although median real income fell for families at all levels of education between 1989 and 1994, the decline was most precipitous for families headed by someone with less than a high school education, as they experienced a 24 percent drop in real income.

I hope that this report will contribute to efforts to develop and strengthen dropout prevention programs. I also am confident that Education Reform, with its high standards for teaching and learning, is helping to create an environment which engages students throughout their education so that they can, will -- and want to -- graduate from school.

I would like to acknowledge the Accountability and Evaluation Service Cluster for developing this report. If you have any questions or suggestions about the report, please contact:

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Accountability and Evaluation Services
350 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148
(781) 338-3535

Sincerely,

Robert V. Antonucci
Commissioner of Education

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Analysis of Dropout Rates
• Technical Information
• Adjusted Annual Dropout Rates by School and District
• Undajusted Annual Dropout Rates by School and District
• Projected Four-Year Dropout Rates by District