Most students in the Rochester City School District’s senior class are on track to graduate by this August. But about a third are not.
School board member Camille Simmons called it sobering that this class started high school during the pandemic, and today it’s clear that many of those students have struggled.
“There are some structural and foundational defects,” Simmons said. “And the thing is, when you come up and you're talking about teaching and learning, there's only so much you can do when other parts of the system may not be supporting or feeding into things that are getting put into place.”
Nearly 150 students who started high school in the fall of 2020 have since dropped out.
The largest dropout rate was among English language learners at 20 percent. And that’s not unique to Rochester. Across the country there has been a similar trend dating back to before the pandemic.
According to a Fordham University study published in 2020, only 40% of English language learners across New York state graduated in 2016.
The U.S. Dept. of Education notesthat in most states during that same timeframe, at least 60% of English language learners graduated within four years.
“The school dropout risk is high ... not only because they are learning English, but also because they are also significantly more likely than the general population to be disadvantaged, poor, and born to immigrant parents, each a status group at heightened risk of dropping out,” the Fordham University study’s authors said.
In the same paper, Fordham University researchers outlined possible solutions including systemic reform to address inequities in how schools educate English-learning students. They also recommend making sure that opportunities like after-school enrichment are designed to be culturally inclusive.
“A personalized learning environment helps ... create a sense of belonging and fosters a school climate in which students and teachers get to know one another and can provide academic, social, and behavioral encouragement,” the university study’s authors said.
During the school board meeting, Deputy Superintendent Demario Strickland told school board members that various departments in the district are looking into the root causes of students dropping out — including for English learners, students with disabilities (13% dropout rate), and non-binary students (who are currently not being documented).
