Hispanics top list of high school dropouts in Northern Virginia
By: Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
April 1, 2009
As many as one in four Hispanic students in Northern Virginia dropped out of high school, according to new data from the state Department of Education.
Skipping school
Northern Virginia dropout rates for the class of 2008:
Alexandria — 11 percent
Arlington County — 9 percent
Fairfax County — 6 percent
Falls Church — 0 percent
Loudoun County — 3 percent
Prince William County — 10 percent
Source: Virginia Department of Education
Overall, nearly 9 percent of Virginia’s class of 2008 left high school before receiving a diploma. That rate rose to 11 percent in Alexandria, for the highest rate in the Washington area. In Loudoun County, only 3 percent of students dropped out, and in tiny Falls Church, no one did.
The data track for the first time the path of students who entered high school in 2004 as they progressed through graduation. The previous measure divided total dropouts by total students in grades nine through 12, resulting in lower and less accurate percentages. Maryland districts are about two years away from similar data, and the District of Columbia will have the data in four years.
“This is a milestone in our reporting,” said Virginia Superintendent Patricia Wright, adding that it holds schools accountable for every student.
But it revealed some ugly truths about local districts.
In Alexandria and Arlington and Prince William counties, almost 25 percent of Hispanic students dropped out of school and did not enroll elsewhere between 2004 and 2008. Fairfax County fared little better with a rate of 22 percent.
“That’s way too many students to not be finishing in a society that requires, at a minimum, that individuals have a high school diploma,” said Kathy Wills, director of planning and evaluation for Arlington County Public Schools.
Black students dropped out at rates closer to 9 percent in Alexandria and Fairfax and Prince William counties. In Arlington the rate dropped to 7 percent, and in Loudoun to 5 percent.
Students who speak limited English had an even tougher time. More than 600 members of the class of 2008 dropped out, or between 23 and 37 percent of their district populations.
Wright said many districts faced a challenge in keeping English learners through graduation because many of them enroll as older students and use school as a means to gain language skills, not necessarily a diploma.
“We in the schools may understand better than a lot of middle-class Americans the challenges and hurdles faced by these students,” Wills said. “But it’s our responsibility to respond to those challenges.”
