Why is the annual dropout rate reported by the Texas Education Agency so low, when the attrition rate is so high?
An attrition rate compares campus, district, or state enrollment in 9th grade with enrollment in 12th grade three years later. An attrition rate does not take into account students who move in or out of the campus, district, or state over the four-year period, nor does it take into account students who are still enrolled but were retained and have not reached Grade 12. An attrition rate is based on the assumption that students who are not enrolled in the 12th grade three years later have dropped out, when, in fact, some of those students may have transferred out of state, to a private school, or to home schooling, or may have obtained a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.
