By SOPHIA BRANDT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Dropout rates in Michigan are dropping, paralleling national trends, primarily because of new learning styles.
“We have a particular need to make sure graduation delayed is not graduation denied,” said William DiSessa, a communications officer for the Department of Education.
MI School Data, along with the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, show K-12 dropout rates on the decline.
The dropout rate is the percentage of high school students who do not graduate, compared with the number of students enrolled.
There was a 0.12% drop between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, although some previous years had a bigger improvement.
Back in the 2017-18 school year, dropout rates statewide were at 8.73%, compared with 7.65% in 2020-21.
However, the rate of change varies from district to district across the state.
According to MI School Data,the Pontiac City School District reported a 17.62% dropout rate in the 2020-21 school year. Marquette Area Public Schools reported a 1.98% dropout rate.
Some districts stayed close to the state average, including Three Rivers Community Schools with a rate of 7.14% and the Ludington Area School District with a 6.11% rate for 2020-21. Others beat the state average, such as Midland Public Schools with a 4.2% dropout rate.
For Alcona Community Schools Superintendent Dan O’Connor, dropouts often become an issue for their communities.
“They don’t end up moving very far from where they started, so it essentially leaves the community with people with lack of skills,” O’Connor said.
Continuing to lower dropout rates will lead to more school success and more success in the community, he added.
For both the Alcona schools and the Education Department, alternative education models such as apprenticeship and personal curriculum can reduce dropout rates, according to O’Connor and DiSessa.
As an example, DiSessa said, “Personal curriculum is a tool for modifying the Michigan Merit Curriculum to individualize rigor and relevance of the state’s graduation requirements. All students are eligible for a personal curriculum.”
The Education Department says students with a personal curriculum can switch out of some merit curriculum classes. There is also a way to modify their Algebra II credit by taking a career, technical education or substitute math class.
The Michigan Merit Curriculum is based on student proficiency and was designed to prepare them for success. It also allows flexibility in graduation requirements.
To keep dropout rates low, O’Connor said the Alcona district plans to create more opportunities for its students.
“We are looking pretty deeply into an alternative education model that focuses on work-based learning and apprenticeship, just to offer another option,” he said. “In a rural area like Alcona, there are limited resources to create more options.”
DiSessa said a personal curriculum focuses on the individual students’ education, as well as post-graduation goals.
New ways of schooling help engage students in their own learning. Alternative learning styles encourage students to participate in school-related decisions, resulting in fewer dropouts.
The Education Department’s annual report, released in November, details the positives of personal curriculum so far.
“In 2021, 7,045 students modified the curriculum to meet their needs. Last year, 2022, over 10,300 students did,” said DiSessa.
The department uses an early warning intervention and monitoring system to track absences and course failures and to help educators recognize students who may not be on track to graduate and, thus, are at a higher risk of dropping out.
In addition, there are alternative public schools across the state, including Saline Alternative High School, Cheboygan Inverness Academy and The Bridge in Brighton.
Saline Alternative High School describes itself as a school that “guides all students in the development of an educational plan consistent with each student’s individual talents, interests and aspirations.”
At The Bridge, students attend four days a week, with Fridays available for making up credits. The school allows both the merit curriculum and personal curricula.
Alternative schools give students a different option of how to learn and are more one-on-one than traditional ones, ultimately leading to fewer dropouts, advocates say.
Among the top 10 goals in the Education Department’s strategic education plan is “increasing the percentage of all students who graduate from high school.”
Dropout and graduation rates for 2021-22 are scheduled for release in February.