Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

IN DEPTH:
Absenteeism, Suspensions, Retention, and Dropping Out
In this “in depth” view we focus on the impact of high absenteeism, discipline problems, and
retention in grade, all of which have been well documented in the literature as key individual
factors in dropping out. We compare the median attendance rate, the suspension rate, and
the retention rate of high school students who dropped out and who remained in school in
2009 (Table 30). We found that among LEP students who dropped out in SY2009, the median
attendance was much lower (63.1%) than among those who stayed in school and that
the difference in attendance rate between the two groups was statistically significant. Similarly,
the suspension rate among those LEP students who dropped out was more than twice
that of those LEP students who remained in school and this difference was also significant.
Finally, we examine the rate of retention and found a higher proportion of students retained
in grade among the dropouts than among those who did not drop out; this difference was
also statistically significant. The situation of EP students mirrors that of LEP students.
Table 30. Attendance, Suspension and Retention of High School Dropouts. BPS, SY2009
EP LEP1 Dropped Out Did Not Drop Out Dropped Out Did not Drop Out
Median Attendance Rate 56.8% 87.7% 63.1% 87.1%
Suspension Rate 11.9% 6.6% 6.3% 3.0%
Retention Rate 42.7% 8.8% 34.9% 19.8%
Note: 1 The differences in attendance rates, suspension rates and retention rates between LEPs who dropped out and those
who stayed in school were all found to be statistically significant (p= .000, p=.011 with minimal effect size, and p=.000 with
minimal effect size, respectively).
E What Are the Annual High School
Dropout Rates of English Language
Learners in Different Types of
Schools and Programs?
In this section we consider the differences in the
dropout rates of LEP students in different types of
schools and programs. The presentation of data
is more limited than in other chapters, because
the number of students is relatively small and they
disaggregated across a relatively large number of
programs and school characteristics. Therefore, in
some cases, we are unable to report findings for
reasons of confidentiality.
Dropout Rates in Schools of Different Characteristics.
We re-visit first the characteristics of
schools presented earlier and present the dropout
rates for LEP high school students at these schools.
As a point of comparison we present the high
school dropout rates for all BPS students and for all
LEP students (Table 31).
Differences in the poverty rate of schools, the
density of their LEP student enrollment, attainment
of AYP goals and the qualifications of their teachers
were all statistically significant school characteristics
in relation to the dropout rate of LEP high
school students. The dropout rate among students
in schools with a poverty rate between 25% and
75% was almost three times that of schools with
58 Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools