School Dropout Rates – California

California reports eighth-grade dropout rate for first time, By Howard Blume, August 12, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “An overlooked corner of the dropout problem became more visible Thursday when state officials for the first time released the dropout rate for eighth-graders. Statewide, about 3.5% of eighth-graders – 17,257 in all – left school and didn’t return for ninth grade, according to the state count now available with a system for tracking students individually. The California Department of Education released the new dropout and graduation rates, the first such report based on unique identification numbers for every public school student. It looked at eighth-graders in the 2008-09 academic year and students who started high school in 2006 and should have graduated four years later…”