Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

dropout rate for all BPS students and for LEP and
EP students and shows that the annual high school
dropout rate is lower among LEP students than
among English proficient students. 2 Trends in the
dropout rate of ELLs between SY2006 and SY2009
show that the dropout rate of LEP high school
students has decreased from 12.0% to 6.6%. This
was a reversal of the steep climb of the rates in the
Table 21. Annual High School Dropout Rates. LEP and EP Students. BPS, SY2009
All BPS
ENGLISH
PROFICIENT
LEP
Annual High School Dropout Rate1 6.9% 7.0% 6.6%
Note: 1 The difference in the dropout rate between LEP and EP students is not statistically significant.
Figure 8. Trend in Annual High School Dropout Rate. LEP Students. BPS, SY2003-2009
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
Note: Source for SY2003-2005 data is Tung et al, 2009.
previous years, as reported by Tung et al. (2009).
Nevertheless, the dropout rate among high school
LEP students has not declined to the level documented
for the year prior to the implementation of
Chapter 386.
0.0%
SY2003 SY2004 SY2005 SY2006 SY2007 SY2008 SY2009
LEP Dropout Rate 5.0% 3.6% 10.4% 12.0% 11.3% 8.6% 6.6%
IN DEPTH:
Summer Dropouts
In following the MDESE (2010) dropout methodology of including summer dropouts in the
annual dropout rate, an important finding emerged. Among LEP high school dropouts in
SY2009, 39.8% dropped out during the summer prior to the start of the school year. An
additional 8.0% of LEP students dropped out of high school in SY2009 with only 1 day of
attendance and 1 day of membership. In other words, a little less than half of all LEP students
who dropped out in SY2009 did so during the summer or, effectively, without having attended
school that year.
50 Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools