STATE’S DROPOUT RATE DECLINES

Oklahoma’s dropout rate fell to 2.4 percent during the 2009-2010 school year, a full percentage point below the national median that ranks Oklahoma 14th in the nation for the lowest high school dropout rate, according to a new study released Tuesday.

The report from the U.S. Department of Education shows Oklahoma’s dropout rate has steadily declined since the 2005-2006 school year, when it was at 3.6 percent.

Oklahoma tied with Vermont in the study that ranks the dropout rate for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The study defines a dropout as a student who was enrolled at any time during the previous school year who is not enrolled at the beginning of the current school year and has not successfully completed school.

“This report is another indication that while we are making progress, more work remains,” state schools Superintendent Janet Barresi said in a statement. “With full implementation of Oklahoma’s education reforms, we will see additional progress.”

The study shows Oklahoma’s average freshman graduation rate, which is an estimate of the percentage of high school students who graduate within four years of first starting the ninth grade, was 78.5 percent in the 2009-2010 school year, slightly above the national average of 78.2 percent. 405,000. It also produced the most dropouts: almost 93,000. That translated to a rate of about 5 percent, above the national average.

During the 2009-10 academic year, some 514,000 students dropped out of high school nationwide.

Nationally, students were most likely to drop out of high school during their senior year, with roughly one in 20 quitting before graduation day.

Arizona had the highest dropout rate, at 8 percent, followed by Mississippi at 7 percent. Washington, D.C., schools also posted a 7 percent dropout rate, the Education Department projected based on previous years’ reporting.