Imagine a nation in which all students, from Benton Harbor
to Watts, from
Akron to Baltimore, from Chicago’s South side to rural South
Carolina, routinely graduate from high school ready and prepared to succeed in
college or advanced post-secondary training. Imagine the social and economic
implications of being able to say to any child, in any locale in the United
States, “you will be provided with a high school that will educate you,
challenge you, care for you, support you, and graduate you ready to compete and
succeed in the world.” Fifty years after Brown vs. the Board of Education, the
image of public high schools providing all youth with equal opportunity to
receive a high quality education remains inspiring and compelling.
Current reality, however, offers a much more troubled
picture. In each of the locations listed above, half or more of high school
students do not graduate, let alone leave high school prepared to fully
participate in civic life. It is no coincidence that these locales are gripped
by high rates of unemployment, crime, ill health, and chronic despair. For many
in these and other areas, the only real and lasting pipeline out of poverty in
modern America, a solid high school education followed by post secondary
schooling or training, is cracked and broken. Consider the central findings of
this study:
- Nearly half of our nation’s African American students,
nearly 40% of Latino students, and only 11% of white students attend high
schools in which graduation is not the norm.
- Between 1993 and 2002, the number of high schools with the
lowest levels of success in promoting freshmen to senior status on time (a
strong correlate of high dropout and low graduation rates) increased by 75%,
compared with only an 8% increase in the total number of high schools.
- There are currently between 900 and 1,000 high schools in
the country in which graduating is at best a 50/50 proposition. In 2,000 high
schools, a typical freshman class shrinks by 40% or more by the time the
students reach their senior year. This represents nearly one in five regular or
vocational high schools in the U.S. that enroll 300 or more students.
- A majority minority high school is five times more likely
to have weak promoting power (promote 50% or fewer freshmen to senior status on
time) than a majority white school.
- Poverty appears to be the key correlate of high schools
with weak promoting power. Majority minority high schools with more resources
(e.g., selective programs, higher per pupil expenditures, suburban location)
successfully promote students to senior status at the same rate as majority
white schools.
- The majority of high schools with weak promoting power are
located in northern and western cities and throughout the southern states.
- High schools with the worst promoting power are
concentrated in a sub-set of states. Nearly 80% of the nation’s high schools
that produce the highest number of dropouts can be found in just 15 states
(Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan,
Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, and Texas).
- While only 20% of high schools that enroll more than 300
students are located in large and medium-sized cities, 60% of the nation’s high
schools with the lowest levels of promoting power are found in these cities.
- Many cities have high concentrations of high schools with
weak promoting power. In half of the nation’s largest 100 cities, 50% or more
of high school students who attend regular or vocational high schools with more
than 300 students attend high schools with weak promoting power. In some
cities, students have virtually no other choice but to attend a high school
with weak promoting power.
- More than half of African American students in Illinois,
Ohio, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania attend high schools in which the
majority of students do not graduate on time, if at all. African American
students in these states are up to 10 times more likely to attend a high school
with very weak promoting power, high dropout and low graduation rates than
white students.
- Five southern states—Georgia, South Carolina, North
Carolina, Florida, and Texas— collectively lead the nation in both total number
and level of concentration of high schools with weak promoting power.
These findings are a chilling reminder of how much further
we need to go to truly realize the vision of Brown. They are also a call to
action. We must no longer tolerate the squandered potential, limited life
chances, and social malaise that result from poorly educating our nation’s
youth. Increasing momentum for high school reform is a promising development
but must not become a passing fad. With sustained commitment and judicious use
of resources, transforming the American high school will be a powerful vehicle
to achieving a more just and prosperous society.
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