High School Discharges Revisited 4/30/2009
High School Discharges Revisited: TRENDS IN NEW YORK CITY’S DISCHARGE RATES, 2000-2007
By Jennifer L. Jennings and Leonie Haimson, April 30, 2009
https://classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/High_School_Discharge_Report_FINAL.pdf
Here is a NY Times article about our findings: Number of Students Leaving School Early Continues to Increase, Study Says.
This report led to a 2011 audit from the NY State Comptroller’s office, which found that more than half of all discharges lacked proper documentation; and even after extensive searches by DOE, 10-15% should have been reported as dropouts. For more on the audit, see Gotham Schools, NYC Public School Parents, Empire State News, NY TImes Cityroom and Queens Courier.
Though the city altered some of its discharge codes in response to our study, there remain serious problems with the city’s discharge reporting. See our 12/25/11 testimony on Int. 354 requiring reporting of student discharge rates.