Tuesday, April 11, 2017

High School Graduation: The Four Year Fallacy


Sent to the Los Angeles Daily News, April 11, 2017

The improved high school graduation figure announced in "The LAUSD graduation rate climbs to 77 percent, new data shows," (April 11) is based on graduating in four years, or graduating "with your class."

Announcing graduation rates based only those who graduate "on time" sends the message that there is something wrong with taking longer.  During the depression, the father of education expert Susan
Ohanian went to high school every other year, working to help support the family when he wasn't in school. 

Taking longer than the usual four years during hard times is often an indication of persistence and determination, not laziness.

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

original article: http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20170411/lausd-graduation-rate-climbs-to-77-percent-new-data-shows

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