South Carolina Department of Education Releases Annual Student Dropout Report
Staff Report From South Carolina CEO
Thursday, July 26th, 2018
The South Carolina Department of Education released the statewide Report on Student Dropout Rates for the 2016-2017 school year. The overall state dropout rate increased from 2.3 percent during the 2015–16 school year to 2.4 percent during the 2016–17 school year. The dropout rate for grades 9 through 12 declined in 52 of the 84 districts from 2015-16 to 2016-17.
"Students who are engaged and see the relevance in what they are learning will show up to class on time and not drop out.," said State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman. "I challenge our teachers, schools, and districts to find students' passions and offer them opportunities so that they can be successful. If we do this, our graduation rates will continue to climb and our dropout rate will get even lower."
The Report on Student Dropout Rates is an annual data collection process that reports students who leave school during a twelve-month period including those who leave over the summer. The process allows those who re-enroll during the collection period and remain in school to be excluded from the count.
The total number of students to dropout during the 2016-17 school year was 5,351. The full Report on Student Dropout Rates can be accessed by visiting this link.