Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2013-14. IDRA Report

Since 1986, Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) has conducted an annual attrition study to track the number and percent of students in Texas who are lost from public secondary school enrollment prior to graduation. The study builds on the series of studies that began when IDRA conducted the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas with the release of the initial study in October 1986. That study was the state's first major effort to assess the school holding power of Texas public schools and resulted in state-level policy reforms for the state education agency to count and report dropout data. IDRA is the only organization that has examined Texas attrition rates consistently, with the same methodology, since 1986. The annual attrition studies released by IDRA include county-level data by race and ethnicity. Trend graphs of high school attrition in each Texas county are available online. The study includes detailed findings, a supplemental analysis for reaching a rate of zero, and graphics showing different types of dropout data. IDRA's study also looks at the latest dropout study released by the Texas Education Agency and the National Center for Education Statistics. This report presents results of long-term trend assessments of attrition data in Texas public high schools. The following assessments and features are included in this report: (1) Texas Attrition Rate Dips One Percentage Point (Roy L. Johnson); (2) Types of Dropout Data Defined; (3) Texas Schools Projected to Lose 2.4 Million More Students before Attrition is Tamed (Felix Montes); (4) A Model for Success; (5) Taking Action to Hold on to Students; (6) 2012-13 Texas Education Agency Texas School Completion and Dropout Report (Roy L. Johnson); (7) Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate--Texas Tied for 22nd in On-Time Graduation in 2011-12 (Roy L. Johnson); and (8) Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate Completion and Dropout Report (Roy L. Johnson). [Individual reports contain statistics, charts, and resources. For the 2011-12 report, see ED544323.]