Study published in Education Week is erroneous

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

William F. Coleman III, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools, issued the following statement about an article on the District’s graduation rates that will be published in next week’s edition of Education Week:

“The figures published in Education Week about our graduation rates are grossly misleading. Our graduation rates, which are tabulated independently by the Michigan Department of Education, have been rising steadily in the course of the last several years. During the 2002-03 year, the District’s graduation rate, according to the state, was 44.5 percent. The number rose to 60.89 percent during the 2003-04 school year and to 67.89 percent the following year.

“You need to know that the figures that appear in Education Week are an estimate of a probability of the number of students likely to earn a high school diploma within four years.  

“To be sure, we are not satisfied with our graduation rate. But we are working tirelessly to strengthen all our high school programs. At more than six of our high schools, students can now earn high school diplomas and associate degrees simultaneously. We have smaller learning communities in 15 of our high schools and our programs designed to keep students from dropping out are proliferating. We are pleased with the progress we’ve made. And we are optimistic about where we are headed.

And we are determined that nothing - not even a misleading article in a national publication - will stop us.”


About the Detroit Public Schools

The Detroit Public Schools, founded in 1842, is one of the nation’s largest public school systems. Detroit Public Schools is a school district of choice and is open to children who live outside the city. The District offers numerous competitive academic and career technical programs.

Among these world-class programs are the Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural School, Michigan’s only public school of its kind; Davis Aerospace, one of few college prep high schools in the country where students can obtain a pilot’s license; the Detroit School of the Arts, a multiple award winning performing arts high school; and Crockett Technical High School, a digital technology high school.

For more information about the District, visit our website at www.detroitk12.org.