Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Middle School Attrition, 1,350+ students now lost annually in 5th to 6th grade transition

For the past 6 years Dallas ISD has lost over 1,200 students, over 10% of the district 5th grade enrollment, each year between the 5th and 6th grade.  The last two years that loss has been over 1,350 students. Sixth grade is now the beginning of middle school in DISD for almost all DISD students. It is an annual loss that was no different from other middle school grades before 2006.  Then the 6th grade was moved into the majority of DISD middle schools.  It is now the norm for the first year in middle school in almost all middle schools. Study the chart below:
Middle School Transition & Attrition in DISD 1997-2012
(Right-click on above chart and hit "open link" to enlarge and/or to print.)
The 5th to 6th grade losses accelerated as the move to 6-8 middle school format happened. The data used in the chart above comes from the chart below.   
Dallas ISD Enrollment By Grade 1996-2012 with 5 most recent years of average SAT/ACT scores
(Right-click and click "open link" to enlarge and/or print.)