zlacker

>>pessim+(OP)
64% of foster youth graduating high school is far far higher than I thought it would be. I’m beyond delighted by this. And if that 64% has free access to post-secondary… that’s a cycle breaking opportunity.

>>Waterl+s5
I wonder how many non-foster kids graduate high school?

>>hotpot+48
The question to ask is "how many kids graduate high school vs. how many should".

Turns out the answer is interesting - about 50 years ago, the graduation rate for high school was around 50%. These days it's much higher (90% or more in some areas).

Does this mean the children is learning? Perhaps.

It also may represent a failure of our systems - in the past, not everyone needed a high school degree to be a functional member of society, and forcing those people to "graduate" may in fact be a net loss to society.

In other countries, this is explicit: people are tracked to "educational" vs. "vocational" career tracks earlier, and there is not the emphasis on graduation rates as a metric.

>>xmddmx+Iq
A 50% graduation rate for US secondary education had been attained by the 1947-48 school year, which is now 75 years ago. By 50 years ago (1972-73), the actual rate was 75%, among 17 year olds. (Note that some normal-schedule students would be graduating at age 18, and other statistics look at graduation or G.E.D. equivalent at later ages, e.g., 19 or 20.)

That said, yes, there was a dramatic increase in attendance and graduation from ~1900, when the graduation rate was about 6%.

US Department of Education, 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait, p 55, "Table 18 --- High school graduates, by sex and control of institution: 1869--70 to 1991--92"

<https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qa...> (PDF)