Schools

Santee Graduation Rates: Santana Up, West Hills Down

State and district-wide more students are graduating within four years.

New state data released in June shows Santee high school graduation rates in 2010-11 were above the average for the state, county and district. had a graduation rate of 82.4 percent, was at 88 percent, which compares favorably to the average of 77.2 percent.

Looking at the change from 2009-10 to 2010-11, Santana's graduation rate improved 1.3 percent, but West Hills' fell 1.4 percent.

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Santana High also has a notably low dropout rate that fell to 2.5 percent.

On the state level, the data shows that increasing percentage of California students are graduating within four years of entering high school.

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"It's heading in the right direction," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said on a conference call announcing the high school graduation and dropout rates for the Class of 2011.

This is the second year the state's rates have been based on a state data system—CALPADS—that tracks individual students over their academic careers. Previous systems relied on group estimates.

The new data shows 76.3 percent of California high school students graduated within four years in 2011, up 1.5 percent from the previous class that was the first to use CALPADS.

Torlakson said though the numbers are not where state officials would like them to be ultimately, they are "good news" in the face of terrible budgets, turmoil and uncertainty, crowded classrooms, a shorter school year and eliminated summer school in some districts.

"We'd like to see the numbers climb higher and faster," Torlakson said.


10-11 Grad 10-11 Dropout  09-10 Grad 09-10 Dropout

Santana

82.4% 2.5% 81.1% 4.5% West Hills 88% 7% 89.4% 6.5% GUHSD 77.2% 9.2% 76.8% 11.3% State 76.3% 14.4% 74.8% 16.6% County 77.5% 10.9% 75.2% 13.2% San Diego Unified 83.7% 5.9% 80.9% 8.4%

The state's dropout rate, too, is headed in the right direction, Torlakson said, dropping just over 2 percent to 14.4 percent in the Class of 2011.

"Our research shows that chronic absence from school, even as early as kindergarten, is a strong indicator of whether a child will drop out of school later,” Torlakson said in a statement. “The dropout rate shows there’s still much work to be done, particularly to address the needs of disadvantaged and minority students. We must build on our work with parents and communities in the earliest years to pave the way for kids to succeed in school.” 

The dropout rate reflects students who are no longer enrolled in California schools and who are not known to have transferred out of state. With CALPADS, state education officials are able to track students as they move throughout the state—whether or not they let their original home school know they are leaving. But if students leave the state without notifying their last in-state school, they can be shown as a dropout.

Students who are still enrolled in school beyond four years, pursuing a GED or in a non-diploma special education program are not included as dropouts.

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