The good news is that the 9th grade bubble has decreased significantly in Dallas over the past 3 years. I project that using the 9th grade as the base that our graduation rate will continue to rise and may even pass 50% within the next few years.

I strongly believe, due to the constant arguments over dropout rate, that a full 12+year enrollment by grade spreadsheet should be posted in an easy to find location on every Texas school district and school web site so that the games played with dropout rates can stop. The single digit dropout rate claims need to stop.

Regarding work to lower our dropout rates here in Dallas, I strongly recommend you look at our School Archive Project at http://www.studentmotivation.org. It is now 5 years old and has led to the largest 12th grade class in the history of both Pinkston and Sunset for the 2008-2009 school year. It has now spread to 4 other schools and is being considered by more. For $2 per 8th grade student it is a very good investment. It is a simple 10-year time-capsule and 10-year class reunion plan with planned presentations at the time of the reunion by alumni speaking with then current students. They will talk about their recommendations for success. They are warned to be ready for questions such as “What would you do differently if you were 13 again?”