New report ranks S.C. near bottom in graduation rate

COLUMBIA — A new a report by the Southern Regional Education Board shows half of South Carolina high schools are “dropout factories” and the state ranks at or near the bottom of the nation when it comes to on-time graduation rates.

But state education superintendent Dr. Jim Rex said the numbers are wrong.

The report ranks South Carolina 50th, or last, in “promoting power,” which is the percentage of ninth-grade students who become seniors in three years. Only 61 percent of the state’s freshmen make it to their senior year on time.

The state ranks 48th in “Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate,” also at 61 percent.

Rex said those numbers are misleading, however, because different states have different ways of calculating graduation rates, so it’s almost impossible to compare states accurately.

“The good news is last year the federal government mandated that all states use the same formula for on-time graduation and that they have to do that by no later than 2011,” Rex said. “There are about 15 states that have been voluntarily using that formula for a number of years. We’re one of them. North Carolina is another one. Based upon that national formula, the 2008 graduating class had an on-time graduation rate of 74.9 percent.”

But the report also shows 50 percent of South Carolina high schools are “dropout factories” because 60 percent or fewer of their ninth-graders make it to their senior year.

Rex said he doesn’t think it’s 50 percent, but the state does have a high number of high schools that have dismal graduation rates, all of them in high-poverty communities.

“We know we’ve got to figure out a way to turn those around,” he said. “We do have a new piece of legislation that we put through last year called Turnaround Schools, which allows us to go in these kinds of schools and replace the principal and, after the initial year, which is called the redesign year, if necessary, replace teachers. And we think that’s a piece of the puzzle. The whole nation has been trying to figure out how to turn those kinds of schools around.”

University of South Carolina College of Education Dean Les Sternberg said while most “dropout factory” schools in other states are in urban districts, most of South Carolina’s are in rural districts. In both, poverty plays a huge role.

One of the SREB report’s recommendations to improve graduation rates is for states to have high achievement standards.

“The overall education standards, the curriculum standards that have been established for students across the board, including high school, are some of the highest in the nation,” Sternberg said of South Carolina’s. “And that, inadvertently, could be leading to some issues regarding graduation. When you’re setting the bar fairly high, you are going to have, unfortunately, some students look at those bars and say, ‘I’m not real sure I can get above those bars.’”

Rex said that’s not a reason to lower standards, though, because students will need to be challenged in school to meet the workplace challenges they’ll face later.

“We do have high expectations,” he said. “We also require 24 credit hours, highest in the nation. No state requires more than 24 and many require as few as 18 or 20.”

But the SREB report is giving more ammunition to groups like South Carolinians for Responsible Government, which is pushing for tax credits for parents who want to send their children to private schools.

Randy Page, president of SCRG, said in a written statement, “On one hand, South Carolina is spending over $12,000 per child at our public schools, even during the midst of a serious budget crisis. On the other hand, between one third and one half of students fail to graduate from high school. Parents and taxpayers should be outraged. They need answers, not more excuses.”

Sternberg said despite the Southern Regional Education Board report, South Carolina is doing well at having high standards and trying to improve its schools.

“Our state is moving, I believe, in the right direction. And as long as we maintain that focus and as long as we have the resources that are necessary to continue to pursue that focus, I think we’ll be OK,” he said.

As far as graduation rates are concerned, Rex said parents must look at more than just this latest report. Several months ago, Education Week ranked South Carolina No. 1 in the nation on improvement in on-time graduation, for example.