LAUSD LAGS ON GRADUATION RATES STUDY SAYS LEVEL IS BELOW NATIONAL AVERAGE DISTRICT SAYS REPORT FLAWED.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD and NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN

Staff Writers

SACRAMENTO -- Los Angeles Unified has the sixth-lowest graduation rate among large school districts in the nation, according to a study released Tuesday by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.

The study, whose findings are disputed by LAUSD officials, said the district has a high school graduation rate of 45 percent, compared with a national average of 70 percent.

Overall, the study found that many schools nationwide are failing to ready students for college and careers.

"My sense is that schools, in the eyes of the business world, are not doing an adequate job preparing students for the workplace and for pursuing a career," said Carole Vinograd Bausell, project director with the center.

But Bob Collins, LAUSD's chief instructional officer, said the district's own data put the graduation rate at 64 percent.

Collins said the report was flawed because its estimates don't account for students leaving to go to other districts or graduating early.

"The dropout rate in this district ... is too high. The idea that you're going to try to calculate it or capture it is simply not possible with the current databases you have," he said. "The graduation rate is not as high as we may report it and is not as low as they may report it."

The statistical dispute gained attention last year when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was bidding to take partial control of the district, using dropout and graduation rates to argue it was failing to educate students.

District officials disputed his figures, which came in part from previous Education Week studies, and said the district was improving its graduation and dropout rates.

The mayor, who helped get several allies elected to the school board, is pushing for district reforms, including extending the school day, ending social promotion and restructuring low-performing schools.

The newest figures released Tuesday track the number of students who enter ninth grade and then graduate in four years with a standard diploma. The information is based on federal figures reported by the districts themselves.

Bausell acknowledged the figures don't account for students who transfer out of the district but still graduate on time, but said that is a relatively small percentage.

State officials are looking at ways to improve the collection of student data. One possibility is establishing a statewide tracking system that follows individual students no matter where they are in California.

Sen. Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said the state is looking at setting aside $65 million in the budget to improve the state data system.

The study also found schools nationwide are not doing enough to prepare students for college. Several LAUSD students interviewed Tuesday said the district's biggest flaw in college preparation was a lack of college counselors.

"There were some problems I had with my counselor and organizing my classes in order for me to graduate high school," said Tiffany Loftin, a Birmingham High School senior who will attend the University of California, Santa Cruz, next year.

But others said the district has magnet programs that do a better job of paying attention to individual student needs, mostly because those programs have fewer students.

"I'm definitely prepared (for college)," said Evelyn Perales, a senior at Reseda High School who is attending Mount St. Mary's College next year. "We have no problem whatsoever."

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

Failing grade

SOURCE: Education Week