Home        Dropout Statistics        Why Archive Projects Work        Project Blog

Dallas Independent School District
Dropout prevention progress - comparing 21 high schools in the three sections of Dallas

From the Class of 2000 to the Class of 2010 the percentage of 9th grade students who successfully make it to the 12th grade has gone up by over 12 percentage points for all of Dallas ISD! Here is a list of the percentage of the original 9th grade enrollment represented in the 12th grade enrollment numbers for the Classes of  2000 through 2010 in DISD.  It is also called the promotion rate in the John Hopkins University "Dropout Factory" Study:

42.26%	39.88%	42.51%	44.78%	47.62%	47.13%	47.26%	48.05%	48.24%	50.23%	54.51%
1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10

The numbers in the above chart comes from the Dallas ISD 14-year enrollment spreadsheet at http://www.studentmotivation.org/dallasISD.htm.

The magnet schools and the new DISD high schools are included in the above listing showing a 12 percentage point increase in promotion rates for all of DISD over these 11 years. They are not included in the discussion of the three areas of Dallas that follows.

Also, even though the students affected by the School Archive Project are almost all in schools in Oak Cliff, it certainly was not the only factor in the increasing progress that has happened in Oak Cliff since 2005. Hundreds of other projects, and the efforts of thousands of parents, teachers, and students, are all helping achieve this progress, in addition to the most critical factor - the work of the students.

******

For the last 11 years Dallas ISD has averaged over one percent gain in the promotion rate for every school year. This is progress to celebrate! 

The 9 Oak Cliff High Schools are leading the way with a total gain of 17.1 percentage points in the 9th to12th grade promotion rate since 2000-2001. During these same years the 6 North Dallas high schools in Dallas ISD had their 9th to 12th grade promotion rate go up 14.3 percentage points.  The 6 schools in the southeast area of Dallas, including Pleasant Grove, went up 9.1 percentage points.

The limitation on these conclusions are that it presumes the percentage of 12th graders who actually graduate is similar in all parts of Dallas. None of the calculations used here involve actual graduation numbers.  Fortunately, while the percentage of seniors not graduating grew, due to increasingly high graduation requirements, to over 10% of the class in 2006 and 2007, that percentage began to go down with the Graduation Classes of 2008 and 2009.  (See  http://www.studentmotivation.org/dallasISD.htm.) There is reason to believe the percentage who graduate will continue to go up in DISD! While needed graduation data by district is available on the TEA web site, graduation data by school is not available on that web site.

The above chart was created from the data in the spreadsheet below. It is composed of the 9th to 12th grade promotion rate for each year from each section of Dallas. The 9th to 12th grade promotion rate is calculated from one spreadsheet from each section with the enrollment data for each grade and year combined into that spreadsheet. The Excel spreadsheet, and all data used in these calculations, can be downloaded from this link, DallasISDHighSchools1997-2010.xls. Using that Excel spreadsheet you can more easily see how the numbers were generated and check for errors.

Numbers below are the 9th to 12th grade Promotion Rates drawn from the annual enrollment number spreadsheet, one spreadsheet from each section of Dallas reflecting the enrollment by grade for each year for that area of Dallas ISD.
Data updated 11-25-09	1999- 2000	2000- 2001	2001- 2002	2002- 2003	2003- 2004	2004- 2005	2005- 2006	2006- 2007	2007- 2008	2008- 2009	2009- 2010	Average 1999-2000 to 2009-2010
For the 6 North Dallas high schools	38.3%	39.3%	44.7%	44.3%	47.7%	46.2%	43.2%	43.0%	39.9%	39.6%	53.6%	43.6%
For the 6 Southeast Dallas High Schools	43.3%	41.6%	43.2%	45.3%	47.6%	46.7%	45.1%	48.3%	50.5%	44.9%	50.7%	46.1%
For the 9 Oak Cliff high schools	41.2%	37.6%	38.9%	41.6%	45.8%	44.0%	47.7%	48.0%	50.0%	51.3%	54.7%	45.5%

The above data was pulled from a collection of 21 spreadsheets, one spreadsheet created for each one of the 21 Dallas ISD high schools listed in the John Hopkins University listing of 1700 "Dropout Factories" published in 2007. Newer DISD high schools are not included.  The list of 21 schools, linked here, gives their promotion rates for the years 2004, 2005 & 2006.  The 21 spreadsheets created to make the above comparison were each checked against the John Hopkins List.  The promotion rate numbers for 2004, 2005 & 2006 matched perfectly those rates in the following spreadsheets for all 21 schools indicating that the same formula and data are being used. The new spreadsheets cover a total span of  over 11 years, generating additional promotion rates for the four years since the John Hopkins Study, and for the four years before the John Hopkins Study.

The best news is that at least 3 of the 21 Dallas ISD high schools on the original "Dropout Factory" list no longer meet the required criteria to remain on the "Dropout Factory" list as of the class enrollments for 2009-2010.

---

Below are the 21 Excel spreadsheets created. They are listed by area of Dallas, starting with North Dallas. When you average out the promotion rates for 11 years there is less than a 3 percent variation from the best area of Dallas to the worst. Most of that difference among areas of Dallas appears it to have happened since 2006, based on the graph.  The graph also clearly demonstrates the constant progress in Oak Cliff. It has had the highest promotion rate of any section of Dallas ISD for the past two years.  

A critical reading of this data is invited. The Excel spreadsheets used are linked from this link to that spreadsheet named DallasISDHighSchools1997-2010.xls.  With these spreadsheets you can more easily check the hundreds of calculations, school by school, that led to the indications of significant progress in Oak Cliff and all of DISD.

Questions and concerns about this data are invited, especially if errors are noted.

Bill Betzen
bbetzen@aol.com

---

Following are the enrollment, by year and by grade, spreadsheets for 21 Dallas ISD high schools from 1996 to 2009. They are listed by the area of Dallas within which they are located.  They are in the same order, by number, as the listing given here of the 21 high schools. Click on the school name to go directly to that spreadsheet:

North Dallas:

1) Woodrow Wilson H. S.

2) W. T. White H. S.

3) Thomas Jefferson H. S.

4) North Dallas H. S.

5) Hillcrest H. S.

6) Bryan Adams H. S.

Southeast Dallas:

7) Seagoville H. S.

8) James Madison H. S.

9) Lincoln H. S.

10) Skyline H. S.

11) W W Samuel H S

12) H Grady Spruce

Oak Cliff:

13) David W Carter H. S.

14) W. H. Adamson H. S.

15) Moises E. Molina H. S.

16) Roosevelt H. S.

17) Pinkston H. S.

18) F. Kimball H. S.

19) South Oak Cliff H. S.

20) Sunset H. S.

21) A Maceo Smith H. S.

The above schools each have a spreadsheet below listed in the same order.