A Clearer Picture Of Who Graduates

The U.S. Education Department has permitted considerable latitude in the way that data on school dropout rates are reported under the No Child Left Behind Act, and many states have taken advantage of this flexibility to mask the severity of their problems. Not so Maryland, which has chosen to accurately define and honestly report on the scope of its dropout situation.

Last summer, many governors signed a compact that committed their states to instituting a realistic, common definition of graduation rates, but so far, Maryland's Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) is the only governor who has signed legislation that requires his state to abide by the compact's provisions.

Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery County) and Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt (D-Prince George's) introduced the legislation that requires the Maryland Department of Education to begin this year to use the more accurate governors' compact definition for public reporting and federal accountability purposes. The state is also pursuing the development of a longitudinal data system to track students individually, the ultimate way to ensure accurate data.

Independent researchers from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research peg Maryland's overall graduation rate at 77 percent -- better than the national average of 71 percent and 17th-best in the nation. Maryland also beats the national average for the percentage of minority students who graduate on time -- which falls to 50 percent or even lower in some urban schools and schools with largely minority enrollments. But Maryland schools still need to improve the way they prepare students for jobs and postsecondary education, and better data will facilitate reform.

The Maryland initiative was backed by the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, organizations that represent constituencies for whom the true graduation rate has been masked by inaccurate data and poor definitions of what constitutes graduation.

Maryland's future competitiveness and productivity depend on improving its high schools. But to make the right reform decisions, policymakers and educators need accurate, reliable information on graduation rates. Maryland deserves to be applauded and emulated for taking the first step toward that end.

-- Bob Wise

is the president of the Alliance

for Excellent Education and

a former governor of West Virginia.