For most parents of babies and toddlers, Tuesday’s report on urban high school graduation rates from a study on the graduation rate of students from public high schools in major U.S. cities may seem irrelevant. High school, much less graduation, seems far off as many new (or relatively new) parents navigate the ropes of changing diapers, feeding needs, socialization and their children’s growing motor and cognitive skills. But with entering “the system” not too far off for many, the report is just as important as it is to their parental counterparts with older children.

The results of the study were released by America’s Promise Alliance, an advocacy group founded by former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell. The research was conducted by Editorial Projects in Education, a Bethesda, Maryland., nonprofit organization, with support from America’s Promise Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The alliance is based on a joint effort of nonprofit groups, corporations, community leaders, charities, faith-based organizations and individuals to improve children’s lives. The collective studied 50 of the largest school systems and what they found was alarming.

In his report, Associated Press writer Ken Thomas stated: “In 17 of the school systems, less than half of the students managed to get their diploma, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis, and Cleveland. …Nationally, about 70 percent of U.S. students graduate on time with a regular diploma. About 1.2 million students drop out annually.”

Researchers analyzed school district data from 2003-2004 collected by the U.S. Department of Education and estimated the likelihood that a 9th grader would complete high school on time with a regular diploma. Data included examining race, gender and geography (cities, towns, suburban and rural school systems).

As a result of the report on high school graduation rates, the Bush administration has decided to take action. Perhaps it is because these results show that No Child Left Behind is not working as there are some 1.2 million children in the country who are being left behind. “When more than 1 million students a year drop out of high school, it’s more than a problem, it’s a catastrophe,” Powell said.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced Tuesday it will require states to report high school graduation rates in a uniform way instead of using a variety of methods that critics say are often based on unreliable information. According to several reports including WDIV News and the Detroit Free Press: “Under the 2002 law, schools that miss progress goals face increasing sanctions, including forced-use of federal money for private tutoring, easing student transfers, and restructuring of school staff.

Currently, each state calculates graduation rates using a variety of methods, many of which critics say are based on unreliable information about school dropouts. Under No Child Left Behind, states may use their own methods of calculating graduation rates and set their own goals for improving them.”

Spellings is also currently planning summits in every state to help students better prepare for college and the workforce.

One of the most telling factors in the report about each state is the urban-suburban gap, which overall, may be what prompted No Child Left Behind to be re-examined. Many metropolitan areas showed a considerable gap in the graduation rates between urban public high schools and the surrounding suburbs. According to the report high school graduation rates are 15 percentage points lower in the nation’s urban schools than of the suburbs. The report states: “…Extreme disparities emerge in a number of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, where students served by suburban systems may be twice as likely as their urban peers to graduate from high school.” The most severe urban-suburban disparities are located in the Northeast and Midwest, and students in the suburbs of these regions are “more than twice as likely to complete high school with a diploma” according to data in the report. Of the 50 urban school systems studied, those with the higher graduation rates also showed a smaller urban-suburban divide. With results like these, it is no wonder that many parents choose to home school their children.

Tags: America's Promise, Education, Low Graduation Rate, no child left behind, Public Schools, Schooling