Editorial: Missing without a trace

Thursday, April 13, 2006 | 7:13 a.m.

The Clark County School District's student dropout rate may not be as high as once thought, based on recent research that reveals inconsistencies in how students are tracked among districts.

According to a story Wednesday by the Sun, district officials say a review of students who dropped out of high school after the 2004-05 school year suggested that as many as two-thirds had moved away from Southern Nevada with their families. If true, this means that fewer students than originally thought were dropping out for reasons considered typical - taking jobs, falling behind in credits or having too many absences.

District officials attempted to track down high school students who failed to return for the start of the 2005-06 year by enlisting the help of retired counselors, who called students individually and asked why they had dropped out of school. Many telephone numbers were disconnected or were those of short-term housing, such as motels. Of those students who were reached, many wanted to know how they could get back into school.

It would seem that even if the students had moved out of Clark County they could be tracked through transcripts requested by the students' new schools. But not all districts require transcripts from new students. Like Clark County, districts in Los Angeles, New York and Broward County, Fla., initially ask only for proof of age, address and immunization records. Requests for transcripts come later, but not always.

Clark County's research reveals some shortcomings in how large school districts account for dropouts. And knowing what doesn't work can be as important as knowing what does.

What does seem to be working is a three-year-old initiative in Washoe County. The Sun reports that Nevada's second-largest school district cut its dropout rate from 7.3 percent in 1999 to its current 1.8 percent through a program in which designated graduation specialists initiate contact with at-risk middle school students and their parents. It also includes a strong orientation program for all incoming ninth graders .

Clark County School District officials have initiated what we hope is an evolving effort to more accurately track students who have dropped out of school and successfully bring them back to the classroom. But it would be better if, like Washoe, district officials also could find ways to keep them from dropping out of school in the first place.