A report out today on Metro Nashville’s graduation rates contradicts a study released this week that called 8 area high schools “dropout factories”. On Tuesday, researchers from John Hopkins said Glencliff, Hillwood, Hunters Lane, Maplewood, McGavock, Pearl Cohn, Stratford and Whites Creek high schools all had graduation rates of 60-percent or less.
Today, data from the state shows that only one high school from that list – Maplewood, at 56-percent – has a graduation rate of 60-percent or lower. Metro schools spokeswoman Olivia Brown says John Hopkins used old data that didn’t tell the true story of significant progress in Metro schools.
“We are seeing improvement every year, and the Johns Hopkins study made a great headline, but it just wasn’t a true and fair reflection. I mean, look at Stratford, who 03-04 was 37.8 and now they’re at 71.1. I mean, that’s phenomenal.”
Metro Nashville’s overall graduation rate is 69-percent. Under No Child Left Behind, the district has 6 years to reach a graduation rate of 90-percent.
The Johns Hopkins study also listed Oakland High School in Murfreesboro. Rutherford County schools officials told the Daily News Journal the study’s figures were also flawed for that school. Students who transferred when a new high school opened were counted incorrectly as dropouts.
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