Raising the high school graduation rate: It’s a challenge we must face

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark report “A Nation at Risk” by The National Commission on Excellence in Education. Then-U.S. Secretary of Education T. H. Bell formed this Commission to examine the American public education system which was widely perceived as failing our students and our nation. The commission’s report was ominous, warning of a “rising tide of mediocrity” that threatened the future of America. It indicated we were inadequately preparing students, making it more difficult to compete in an ever-shrinking world. The lesson from the report was simple — unless we made some serious changes, we were going to be in trouble. Now, 25 years later, we are again facing some of the same challenges.

The high school dropout rate for our country is alarmingly high. Nationally, nearly one in three high school students drop out before graduating — a total of approximately 1.2 million students each year, or 6,829 students per day. Only 70 percent of our students graduate from high school. On closer inspection, only 55 percent of African American students and 58 percent of Hispanic students graduate on time. If these were statistics related to a health emergency, we would call it an epidemic and we would attack and solve the problem. Why are we not outraged by these numbers?

The low graduation rate is not created by students perceiving themselves to be under-achieving and simply quitting school. According to a recent survey of high school dropouts conducted for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 88 percent of those students who dropped out actually had passing grades. Fifty-eight percent dropped out with two or fewer years left to complete high school. We need to reach these kids more effectively to encourage them to stay in school, and we can accomplish much by focusing on the three R’s — rigor, relevance and relationships.

In order to keep students excited about staying in school, they need a challenging curriculum that educates and prepares them for both work and college. When teens pick up their cell phones today, many have no intention of making a phone call; they are just as likely to send a text message or take a picture. Similarly, when students pick up a textbook today, they know that the textbook took two years to research, one year to print, and one year to deliver, making it four years out of date before they even open it. Their curriculum must meet them where they learn, and taking into account how they learn is very important. We must also ensure that students have access to internships and job shadowing so they can make the connection between what they’re learning and how it applies to the working world. Finally, we must make sure that our students build relationships with teachers and counselors. Students who know that adults care about their future are much less likely to drop out.

We are working to solve this problem. I have introduced the Graduate for a Better America Act (S. 765) with Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) to create a competitive grant program targeted at high schools with the lowest graduation rates. The legislation would give these schools additional tools and resources to combat the dropout crisis by funding academic catch-up programs for students who have fallen behind, creating early-warning systems to quickly identify students at risk of dropping out of high school, and providing students with comprehensive college guidance programs, student advisement programs, and internship and work-based opportunities. But this wouldn’t solve the problem alone. Only by changing the way we communicate with our students will we have a chance.

In introducing the report “A Nation at Risk,” the chairman of the Excellence in Education Commission, David Gardner, wrote to Secretary Bell saying, “the problems we have discerned in American education can be both understood and corrected if the people of our country, together with those who have public responsibility in the matter, care enough and are courageous enough to do what is required.” His words are perhaps more meaningful today than they were in 1983. Both our elected leaders and our country together must take on the challenge of keeping our kids in school and preparing them to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  

Burr is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions.