Using data to stem dropout rates

Historically, about 25 to 30 percent of a ninth-grade high school class will quit before graduating. While the current high school dropout rate is not the highest it has ever been, many believe the United States is indeed facing a dropout crisis. Why is that?

Two factors make it a crisis today. First, the dropout rate for minority students is as high as 45 to 50 percent in some states. Second, the skills necessary for many 21st century jobs are expected to be much higher-level than in the past. Unlike previous generations, for whom unskilled jobs were plentiful, young people who drop out today will be unable to find sustainable employment without gaining additional skills...