The majority of adolescents communicate via text-based messaging, particularly through WhatsApp, a widely used free communication application. Written content on WhatsApp has the methodological potential to provide rich qualitative interview data. This study compares data collected using text-based WhatsApp versus face-to-face interview…

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…

The author examined school district reports on the dropout problem from several large urban school systems, looking specifically at the definition of dropout, information collection procedures, and the method used to determine the dropout rate. The need for greater consistency in such reports is discussed. (MT)

The New Mexico Dropout Report is published annually to provide information for educators, parents, legislators, and other interested parties on the status of education in New Mexico. This report describes the extent and nature of the school dropout dilemma in the state, providing information on the numbers and percentages of dropouts by grade,…

This paper describes the design and function of Louisiana's statewide student-level database, the Student Information System (SIS). In Louisiana the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted the dropout definition of the National Center for Education Statistics for use by all Louisiana public schools in the 1989-1990 school year.…

THE REGISTRY WOULD CONTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING SCHOOL DROPOUTS. BECAUSE IT WOULD PROVIDE A CENTRAL COLLECTION POINT OF DROPOUT INFORMATION THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, RESEARCH, GUIDANCE AND PLACEMENT OF THESE INDIVIDUALS WOULD BE GREATLY SIMPLIFIED. THE FIRST BASIC FORM PRESENTED CONTAINS ONLY THE NAME, ADDRESS, AGE, LOCATION OF RECORDS AND…

TWO ARTICLES ARE PRESENTED. THE FIRST BY LEONARD M. MILLER, "THE DROPOUT--SCHOOLS SEARCH FOR CLUES TO HIS PROBLEMS," DISCUSSED DATA DISCOVERED BY DIFFERENT STATES ON DROPOUTS. IN MARYLAND COUNSELORS CLAIM THAT LACK OF INTEREST AND DISLIKE OF SCHOOL WERE THE MAIN REASONS FOR DROPOUTS. SPECIFICALLY, THEY WERE DISCOURAGED OVER THEIR…

Since 1971 the South Carolina Department of Education has collected data on school dropouts. However, the system did not reconcile the number of students who drop out repeatedly, leave for the summer, re-enroll in the following school year, or move to other educational programs. The new data collection system accumulates more accurate data and…

This manual has been produced to familiarize data users with the procedures followed for data collection and processing of the first follow-up dropout component of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Necessary documentation is also provided for use of the data files. The base-year population covered by the NELS:88 included…

Issues and considerations likely to be confronted in designing and constructing longitudinal institutional databases or studies are examined, including operational definitions of retention and attrition. The intent is to reduce current limitations in dropout research. (MSE)

Dallas school district attempted to determine whereabouts of students who did not return to school in fall. Found a large portion of "no-show" students matriculating elsewhere. Previously, these students would have been classified as dropouts and used to determine the dropout rate. The new accounting procedure reduced the annual dropout rate from…

San Diego City Schools completed a study to determine: (1) the number of school leavers (dropouts) from district schools during 1982-83 for grades 9 through 12; (2) characteristics associated with school leaving; (3) overall rates of attrition; and (4) attrition rates for students with certain characteristics. The study was intended to update and…

Based on an assessment of the research of others and personal research experience, suggestions are provided on the analysis and reporting of data on high school dropouts. Most of the experience upon which these insights are based is associated with schools in Boston, Massachusetts. Topics covered include types of statistics to be reported,…

The U.S. Department of Education and various education commentators maintain that dropout rates have been decreasing for African-Americans and the school population as a whole. This paper presents evidence that dropout rates may be going up rather than down and identifies reasons for the conflicting data. The reasons include varied definitions of…

Some issues in defining dropouts and reporting information about them are explored, with reference to the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey of the National Center for Education Statistics. There has not been any uniform national count of how many students leave school, and no commonly accepted definition has been developed that allows a number to…