Westbrook Dropuout Rate, Er, Drops

AJ:

When he first took over the reins of the Westbrook
School District, Superintendent Dr. Reza Namin made it a mission to affect the
local dropout rate. Statistics emerging from the 2009-2010 school year, his
first in charge, suggest that the culture is changing within the district.The
dropout rate – calculated by adding summer dropouts and school-year dropouts
minus returned dropouts, and dividing that number by the entire high school
enrollment --was 1.71 percent for 2009-10, Namin said. That means 13 students
out of the high school’s population of 759 dropped out last year. In contrast,
dropout rates in the four previous years were 5.6 percent, 7.43 percent, 6.45
percent and 7.75 percent.

- John C.L. Morgan

(Full disclosure: I teach at Westbrook High School.)