Charter School Attrition Exposes BS of Supposed High Grad Rates

Take a look at these examples of charter school attrition. C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. does excellent work.
https://sites.google.com/site/casilips/graduation-rates

I'll just throw up - I mean that literally and figuratively - just a few charts (we feature similar charts taken from Edwize in out film that wow the audience.) Go to the site to see a gaggle of them.

I'm picking on SEED in Washington DC because it was featured in Waiting for Superman as the nirvanna of charter schools. See the trailor where Davis Guggenhein left out some inconvenient truths:
http://www.seedschooldc.org/page.php?pid=64

Wowie - ONE HUNDRED PER CENT GRAD RATE - if you just manage to lose a bunch of kids who might not have graduated along the way.

Actually, don't get me wrong. I think the SEED concept of boarding during the week (like they do in the Cuban PUBLIC SCHOOL System) is great. But let's be honest about the whole thing.

Here is the way SEED has been described in all the hype:

SEED School of Washington DC

From an August 13, 2010 webpage with video segment on the NewsOne website
"In a neighborhood where only 33 percent of students make it through high school and few go on to college, the Seed School in Washington DC is making a difference to get its youngsters on the road to success.  Most students entering the Seed School do so three grades below grade level. Upon entry, students are set up in dormitories during the week and allowed to spend weekends at home. This year, the school proudly reported a 100 percent graduation and college acceptance rate."  A video segment on SEED from MSNBC can also be viewed on this webpage.

Here's the bad news:

GET LOTS MORE CHARTS HERE:

CASILIPS - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools

The Gallery of "100% Graduation Rates"

All the schools mentioned below have been publicized as having "100% graduation rates." Each of the graphs below shows the enrollment of a cohort of students (class) as these students pass from 9th grade to 12th grade over a 4-year period. In each case, the number of students in the cohort group drops significantly from 9th grade to 12th grade, indicating large attrition. Yet the schools were able to claim "100% graduation rate" on paper by recording all students who departed as "transferring" to other schools by "choice."  It is questionable whether enough followup was done to ensure that these departing students really did continue their education.  Further, it is not clear why a high school should be so completely absolved of responsibility for attrition.  A better way of measuring graduation rate is needed.