Friday, September 27, 2013

Is Dallas reversing history of progress with Graduation Numbers?

With the 6.3% reduction in senior class enrollment after the first full year under Miles, to back under 8,000, how far is Dallas going back in history?  The last time senior enrollment lost over 530 students was back in 1984/85.  Notice that 1984/85 was also the last year DISD lost over 1,500 Anglo students as White-flight began to slow down, but continued at a milder pace for decades.

Dallas Graduation Class History 1971 to 2010
Click on above chart to enlarge and/or print.
Also, there was a massive reduction in the testing of minority students in 2013, reducing the percentage of Black and Hispanic students taking the ACT by 20.9% and 24% respectively, while increasing the percentage of White students tested ever so slightly.  

Where is Miles leading Dallas?
Change 2012 to 2013 in proportion of DISD students allowed to take ACT Exam
This chart above demonstrates the end of the constant expanding of the numbers of students having the opportunity to take the ACT test in DISD. For 5 years the average percentage increase year to year was over 20%.  Then in 2013 there was a monumental decline among minority students encouraged and allowed to take the ACT.  The percentage of Hispanic students went down 24% and the percentage of Black students went down 21% while the percentage of Anglo students went up almost 1%.  How were students being treated equally regarding opportunities in this process?

In a separate area, after 5 years of constantly higher 12th grade enrollments, breaking all 12th grade enrollment records going back at least 30 years, it now appears that in 2013/14 DISD will have the smallest 12th grade enrollment since the Class of 2010.  It appears 12th grade enrollment will be going below 8,000 students for the first time in 4 years!  Last years enrollment of 8,348 was the highest 12th grade enrollment in over 33 years.

While he was the superintendent over Harrison School District Two in Colorado Mr. Miles oversaw the reduction of 12th grade enrollment there, going down 33%.  See http://schoolarchiveproject.blogspot.com/2013/05/damage-by-mike-miles-in-colorado.html   Is that process starting in Dallas?