Freedom High reduces dropout rate

Freedom High School in Morganton leaped past nearly 100 other schools in the state's new report on graduation rates.
Ranked 274th among the 414 schools last year, Freedom High rose to 180th — solidly in the upper half — after 77 percent of the Class of 2008 graduated on time last spring.
If past trends continue, almost four out of every five students who started high school at Freedom in 2004 will have their high school diplomas by this time next year.
That puts Freedom tantalizingly close to Principal Brian Oliver's first objective as he and his staff combat one of North Carolina's most stubborn problems in public education: a statewide dropout rate higher than 30 percent.
"Our first goal is to move all subgroups" — male and female, racial or ethnic, economically disadvantaged or physically handicapped — "above 80 percent," Oliver said.
A 100 percent graduation rate is "an honorable goal," he said, but neither Oliver nor Burke County Schools Superintendent David Burleson believe the public should expect to see every child earn a high school diploma.
"Ninety percent is probably as good as you'll see," Burleson said.
Ninety percent would be better than the graduation rates at all but about 45 high schools in the state.
Burke County actually has one of the eight N.C. high schools in which 100 percent of the Class of 2008 graduated on schedule. All 31 seniors in Burke Middle College earned their diplomas last spring. The seniors were among the first students in the new high school program, which has a select enrollment.
Patton High School also had its first graduating class in 2008. Seventy-two of the 77 "freshmen," or first-in-the school, seniors earned their diplomas — a 93.5 graduation rate that momentarily puts the school near the top in North Carolina.
But aside from such statistical oddities, Freedom High's improvement stands out in the N.C. Department of Public Instruction's report (available online at http://ayp.ncpublicschools.org/2008/app/cgrdisag/).
In 2002, 630 freshmen entered Freedom High School. Five years later, 408 held diplomas and 222 — fully one third of the class — had dropped out. The school's graduation rate ranked in the bottom fourth among all N.C. high schools.
In 2003, Freedom had 497 freshmen (actually more, but the number of students in the Class of 2007 was adjusted for transfers to Patton in 2007). By now, 373 have diplomas. The school raised its graduation rate to 72.8 percent.
Finally, this past spring, 77 percent of the Class of 2008 graduated.
Also during 2007-08, slightly more than 2 percent of the Class of 2007 earned diplomas, raising Freedom High School's "five-year cohort" graduation rate more than 10 percentage points above the previous year's number.
"Five-year cohort" is educational jargon that recognizes an often-overlooked fact: some students simply don't progress through school at a four-years-and-out rate.
"Not every kid fits the same mold," said Christie Abernathy, Freedom High's assistant principal for curriculum. Some mature more slowly, she said. Personal and other family problems, illnesses and academic performance (failing classes or earning grades below the required level for advancement) also mean some youngsters need more than four years to graduate.
For such reasons, six of Freedom High's 2007 freshmen did not become 2008 sophomores. However, the school will give them a chance to catch up. Like 11 students in Freedom High's Class of 2007, those second-year freshmen may earn their diplomas within a year after their classmates graduate.
"Oliver and his staff have a major focus on dropouts in a positive way," Burleson said. "It's taken very seriously."
The Burke County Schools' effort to combat high dropout rates is not confined to Freedom High School. Nor is the attention limited to the high schools where the district is adding graduation-attendance counselors, arranging personal contacts between at-risk students and faculty members and working with the community and families to overcome generations-long attitudes that condone leaving school to get a job at age 16.
"You change that way back in the pipeline," Burleson said. "We've got to start in kindergarten."
Oliver said the clearest indicator of a potential dropout is the student's reading level at the end of third grade. The district's elementary and middle-school teachers and counselors understand that fact, he said, and try harder to help students raise their achievement levels before they get into academic trouble.
"Our goal is prevention rather than intervention," Burleson said. "We're making progress."