Study Finds Fewer 'Dropout Factory' Schools

Students pass between classes at the Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences in Philadelphia. A feeder middle school to several high-risk high schools in that city, Feltonville has implemented an “early-warning” student-tracking system as part of an initiative to improve high school graduation rates.

—Christopher Powers/Education Week-File

Graduation Rates Inched Up From 2001 to 2008, According to Study

By Sarah D. Sparks

After decades of flat-lining graduation rates, states finally have started to turn around or close hundreds of so-called “dropout factory” schools and recover some of the thousands of students who had already given up, according to a new study .