Establish Graduation as the Expectation

What Can Policymakers Do?

· Champion higher graduation rates. Legislators, governors and cabinet leaders can use the bully pulpit, pass legislation, issue Executive Orders and regulatory provisions or establish task forces or commissions to call for specific goals for increasing graduation rates.

· Raise the maximum compulsory and allowable school attendance ages. Many states now require students to stay in school until they earn a diploma or turn 18. Clear consequences, such as Indiana’s revocation of drivers’ licenses, can provide disincentives for students to drop out. A majority of states have also extended the entitlement of a free public education to individuals up to age 21 or higher. Texas set its limit at 26, while Massachusetts and Indiana have no upper limit for K-12 per pupil funding.[1]

· Include graduation rates in state accountability systems. Using student test scores as the sole basis for accountability creates a perverse incentive for high schools to allow struggling students to drop out.[2] New federal regulations require states to add cohort graduation rates to their high school accountability measures beginning in 2010-2011. Louisiana created its Graduation Index, which rewards schools for dropout prevention and recovery. Seventy percent of a school’s accountability score comes from its students’ test performance and 30 percent is established by high school graduation and college/career preparation.

· Expand options for earning course credit. States are moving beyond the traditional “Carnegie Unit” model for awarding credit based on seat time. New approaches to earning diplomas include awarding credit for performance in Delaware, earning credit after school in New Hampshire or recovering credit through virtual courses in Georgia.