WCPSS Drop-out Rate at 4.17 Percent for 2007-08

February 6, 2009 - Wake County Public School System high schools reported that 4.17 percent of students dropped out of school during the 2007-08 academic year, according to the state’s 2007-08 Dropout Report released today.

2007-08 WCPSS Dropout Rate - WCPSS Evaluation and Research

Fewer NC Students Dropped Out of School in 2007-08; Annual Dropout Rate Falls Below 5 Percent - NC Department of Public Instruction

The WCPSS 2007-08 rate is 4.17 percent, slightly lower than the WCPSS 2006-07 rate of 4.21 percent. The WCPSS rate remains below the state’s average of 4.97 percent.

The 2007-08 drop out rate for WCPSS is lower than most urban NC school districts. The rate for Charlotte-Mecklenburg was 5.91 percent. Forsyth County had 5.49 percent and Durham had 4.19 percent. The rate in Cumberland County was 3.61 and Guilford County had 3.31 percent.

The number of students reported as dropouts in 2007-08 totaled 1,689. That’s slightly higher than the 1,647 in 2006-07. The big WCPSS jump in enrollment in 2007-08 led to a decreased rate while the total number of students increased.

In recent years, the school system has worked to strengthen support for high school students.

WCPSS offers smaller high schools such as the schools at East Wake and the Wake Early College of Health and Science.
High schools provide freshman camps to acclimate students to high school and offer ninth grade academies housing students together and providing programming to ease the transition from middle school to high school.
High schools provide academic intervention and peer tutoring for students with low grades
High schools provide advisors by matching school employees with small groups of students to encourage student attendance and attention to academics
There are alternative learning programs for students suspended for behavior issues.
The state driver's license law revokes student licenses if they drop out before age 18.

State officials say that decreases in the annual dropout rate should lead to increases over the next few years in the four-year cohort graduation rate – the number of students who graduate from high school four years after entering ninth grade.

The County Board of Education has built the graduation rate into the school system’s academic goal: WCPSS students will demonstrate high academic growth; by 2014, all students will graduate on-time prepared to compete globally.

The goal focuses on high school graduation and calls for 100 percent of students graduating on time by 2014.

Currently, WPCSS has one of the highest graduation rates in the nation for large urban school districts at 78.3 percent.

The complete dropout report and district level numbers are available online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/research/dropout/reports.

-wcpss-