Dropout Rates Down Across State

The number of high schoolers dropping out of school prior to graduation is down across the state and in our community.

The dropout rate in North Carolina public schools hit a record low for the 2013-2014 academic year, according to recently released data.

The report from the state Board of Education and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction states last school year 2.28 percent of high schoolers in the Tar Heel state dropped out of school, down nearly seven percent from last year’s record low.

19 (.5 percent) students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District dropped out, down from 23 (.6 percent) in the prior year. Magda Parvey is the Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services with Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools, and she says they have not yet reached their goal.

“Of course, we’re always pleased and very excited when all of our efforts result in seeing actually a reduction in our dropout rates,” she says. “We’re striving for it to be zero.”

Parvey adds a key to the dropout number tumbling more than 50 percent over a five-year period in the district is engaging directly with students and recognizing the issues they are dealing with.

“Honestly, we’ve been paying attention to it. We’ve been looking at how our students are performing,” she says. “We’ve started having different conversations with our counselors about our students.

“I would say the same is true about our discipline data, we’ve been paying attention to it, and asking questions, and paying attention to our students, and looking at how we teach students.”

To accomplish the goal of reaching zero students dropping out, Parvey says they need to work together to understand what obstacles are presenting themselves for the individual students who are considering dropping out.

“Our next step is to continue to have conversations with our counselors,” she says. “Our counselors work really hard, and they have a lot that they are managing at schools, but being able to have conversations about conversations they’re having with students.

“And when students feel that the school system or the school is failing them: What do we offer? What do we suggest? How do we communicate with families?”

And she says it will be paramount to engage individual students and reach them on a personal level.

“It’s easy for teenagers to feel disenfranchised and feel like school is not for them,” she says. “Especially when they feel like the information is just being given to them, but they don’t see how it relates to their future.

“As a district, we really believe in a growth mindset, and that all students can learn. And that, yes students do learn differently, but, all children can be successful and intelligence is not fixed.”