Since creating the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas in 1985-86, the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) has conducted attrition analyses to assess schools' abilities to hold on to their students until they graduate. This year's study is the 33rd in a series of annual reports on trends in dropout and attrition…

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) prepares an annual report on graduates and dropouts in Texas public secondary schools. This report includes state summaries of the annual dropout rate, longitudinal graduation and dropout rates, and state attrition rates. In addition to statewide statistics, the report provides historical information about dropout…

Over the past decade, research on dropout prevention has become focused on using evidence-based practice, and data-driven decisions, to mitigate students' dropping out of high school and instead, support and prepare students for career and college. Early warning systems or on-track indicators, in which readily available student-level data are used…

This study was an inquiry to explore the notion of using a more critical pedagogy to educate young male Latino high school students of low socioeconomic status. Using the tenets of critical pedagogy as a guide, eight students who did not complete high school were asked how they might have felt about a different classroom dynamic and an environment…

REL Southwest received a request to review the report "Avoidable Losses: High Stakes Accountability and the Dropout Crisis" to assess the soundness of the study methodology and the appropriateness of the conclusions drawn in the report. The review found that conclusions drawn in this study cannot be generalized and are significantly…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Student Engagement and includes: (1) Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2007-08: At Current Pace, Schools Will Lose Many More…

The identification of dropouts and dropout rates, the characteristics of students who drop out, and their reasons for leaving high school are not easily determined. A study examined the perceptions of school district personnel regarding the annual dropout rate and the longitudinal dropout rate in the 38 districts of Regions 1 and 2 of Texas. It…

The factors that contribute to student dropouts have been the focus of extensive deliberation during the last decade. Despite expanded attention, the number of dropouts remains unacceptably high. Drawing on the authors' 17-year history of dropout research in Texas, Arizona, and across the country, this article describes the alarming dropout rates,…

Texas has the third highest dropout rate in the nation. Various organizations that measure the Texas dropout rate using different methods disagree about actual numbers of dropouts. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) reports that 26,901 students in grades 7-12 dropped out in the 1996-97 school year. Dropouts were 29 percent White, 18 percent African…

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) prepares an annual report on dropouts in Texas public schools. This report includes state summaries of the annual dropout rate, longitudinal secondary school completion/student status rates, and state attrition rates. Out of 1,849,690 students attending grades 7-12 in Texas public schools during 2001-2002, 16,622…

This policy brief presents an in-depth look at the dropout issue in Texas in the context of 1986 state legislation that mandated that the schools and state education agency ensure that at least 95 % of Texas youth complete high school. Findings from a study by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), using a high school attrition…

The data tables and listings in this report provide secondary school dropout data at the state and district levels as a supplement to Secondary School Completion and Dropouts in Texas Public Schools, 1999-00. This supplement includes annual dropout rates calculated under the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) definition and rates…

The Texas Education Agency prepares an annual report on dropouts in Texas public schools. This report contains information on the annual dropout rate used in the accountability system and state attrition rates. It also includes a series of longitudinal secondary school completion/student status rates. Of the 1,818,940 students who attended grades…

This report summarizes Intercultural Development Research Association analyses of attrition rates for high school students enrolled in Texas public high schools. Enrollment figures were examined for students who were in the 9th grade during the 1988-89 school year and students who were in the 12th grade during 1991-92, and results were compared to…

This report includes state summaries of the annual dropout rate used in the accountability system, along with state attrition rates. It offers a series of longitudinal secondary school completion/student status rates. Out of 1,794,521 students attending Texas public secondary schools during 1999-00, 23,457 dropped out, a decrease of 15.0 percent.…