Dropout Rate
Report: 2006

Tom Horne
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Arizona Department of Education

Research & Evaluation
Arizona Department of Education
Robert Franciosi, Deputy Associate Superintendent
Achieve@azed.gov
Published by the Arizona Department of Education, March 2007.
The Arizona Department of Education of the State of Arizona does not discriminate on the basis of race,
religion, color, national origin, sex, disability or age in its programs, activities or in its hiring and
employment practices. If you have questions or grievances related to this policy, please contact the
Administrative Services DAS at (602)542-3186.

Arizona Department of Education
Annual Dropout Rate Study: 2005-2006
This report presents the dropout rates for Arizona’s public school students for the
2005-2006 school year. The dropout rate for the high school grades (9-12) for 2005-06 is
6.4 percent. This is slightly less than the 6.9 percent dropout rate for the 2004-05 school
year.

Calculating the Dropout Rate
The dropout rates presented in this report measure the success of schools in
retaining students. They are generally defined as the proportion of students dropping out
of Arizona’s public schools each year. They are not calculated as nor intended to be a
longitudinal measure of attrition from student cohorts as they progress upward through
the grades. Dropout rates are defined and used as measures of school performance and
accountability, so it is important to note that they are not primarily intended to be
measures of workforce readiness or capacity. Thus, in this report, students exiting
school due to illness or incarceration are not counted as dropouts since these are
considered events beyond a school’s control. However, students leaving to obtain a GED
or attend a vocational school are considered dropouts because these events are considered
failures to retain students on the regular academic course of study.
The dropout rates in this report are calculated using information reported by
schools to the Arizona Department of Education’s Student Accountability Information
System (SAIS). SAIS assigns each student a unique identifier that stays with the student
through their career in Arizona’s public schools. For each student, SAIS information
includes the student’s gender, race/ethnicity, program membership, dates of enrollment,
dates of exit, and reasons for exit.

Dropout Rate Definition
The definition of the dropout rate is:
Dropout Rate =

Summer dropouts before current school year + Current school year dropouts
Students enrolled at the end of previous school year + Students enrolled in current school year

Enrollment. Enrollment is the unduplicated number of students who enrolled in the
entity being examined: school, district/charter holder, county, or state. Students are
included in enrollment regardless of their length of time enrolled or reason for exit.
Enrollment includes students enrolled at the end of the previous school year plus any
additional students who enrolled during the current school year.
Dropout. A student is considered a dropout if he or she left school for the following
reasons (the corresponding SAIS exit codes are given in parentheses):
•
•

EXPULSION (W3, S3);
ABSENCE/STATUS UNKNOWN.
The student was withdrawn for 10
consecutive days of unexcused absences. The student’s status or location is
unknown to the school (W4, S4);

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Arizona Department of Education
Annual Dropout Rate Study: 2005-2006
•
•

•

•

DROPOUT. School received verification that the student has withdrawn from
school and does not intend to complete requirements for a high school diploma
(W5, S5);
GED. Student withdrew from school for the express purpose of obtaining a GED.
Students of high school age must withdraw to take the GED test. Verbal
notification is sufficient at the time of withdrawal to indicate this as a reason for
leaving (W11, S11);
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL. Student withdrew to continue studies at a technical or
vocational school; this includes all schools or educational programs that do not
meet Arizona requirements for obtaining a high school diploma. Verbal
notification from a responsible adult is sufficient to indicate this as a reason for
leaving (W12, S12);
COMPLETION (AIMS). Student has completed course of study requirements
for high school but did not receive a passing score on the AIMS test (W13, S13).

The following events are not considered dropouts:
•
•
•
•
•
•

The student left school but returned before the end of the same school year;
The student left school due to illness;
The student was remanded to the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections;
The student transferred to a home-taught program approved by the county
superintendent;
The students is deceased;
The student left school at age 22.

The criteria defining dropouts and non-dropouts given above has changed from
that of previous years. Students who leave due to illness are no longer considered
dropouts. Students who leave without receiving a diploma because they did not pass the
AIMS are now considered dropouts.

Statewide Dropout Rates
Table 1 shows the statewide dropout rates for the 2005-06 school year. Table 2
shows the trend in the dropout rates over the past ten years. The dropout rate for all
grades and for high school continued their general downward trend. Compared with last,
however, there was a slight increase in the dropout rate for 7th and 9th grades.

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Arizona Department of Education
Annual Dropout Rate Study: 2005-2006

Table 1. Dropout Rates 2005-06 School Year
Grade
Enrollment
Dropouts
Rate
All Grades
508,808
23,996
4.7%
7
87,164
1,221
1.4
8
87,316
1,395
1.6
Elementary
174,480
2,616
1.5
9
92,143
4,149
4.5
10
86,680
4,628
5.3
11
76,700
5,174
6.7
12
78,805
7,429
9.4
High School
334,328
21,380
6.4

Grade
All Grades
7
8
Elementary
9
10
11
12
High School

19961997
9.5%
3.6
3.4
3.5
13.5
12.0
11.2
10.9
12.8

19971998
8.5%
2.9
3.1
3.0
11.2
11.8
11.4
10.8
11.5

Table 2. Trend in Dropout Rates
199819992000- 2001- 20021999
2000
2001
2002
2003
8.9%
8.3% 7.3%
7.1%
6.5%
2.6
3.0
2.6
3.0
2.8
2.8
3.2
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
3.1
2.7
2.8
2.8
11.2
9.7
9.2
8.3
7.0
11.7
10.7
8.6
8.4
7.4
11.3
10.9
9.3
8.8
8.0
11.1
10.7
9.5
10.7
9.9
12.2
11.1
9.8
9.5
8.5

4

20032004
5.8%
2.7
2.6
2.6
5.7
6.4
7.4
9.6
7.4

20042005
4.9%
1.3
1.6
1.4
4.3
5.8
7.1
10
6.9

20052006
4.7%
1.4
1.6
1.5
4.5
5.3
6.7
9.4
6.4

Arizona Department of Education
Annual Dropout Rate Study: 2005-2006
Table 3 shows dropout rates by county. In general, dropout rates are higher in rural and
northern counties. The highest dropout rate is in Mohave County, and the lowest is for
Greenlee County.
Table 3. Dropout Rates by County
County
Enrollment
Dropouts
Rate
State
508,808
23,996
4.7%
Apache
7,721
596
7.7
Cochise
10,554
452
4.3
Coconino
11,088
626
5.6
Gila
4,393
334
7.6
Graham
2,941
144
4.9
Greenlee
723
25
3.5
La Paz
1,474
87
5.9
Maricopa
314,130
12,912
4.1
Mohave
14,489
1,188
8.2
Navajo
12,123
759
6.3
Pima
75,709
3,929
5.2
Pinal
16,529
1,158
7.0
Santa Cruz
4,990
212
4.2
Yavapai
13,731
752
5.5
Yuma
18,213
822
4.5

Table 4 shows dropout rates by gender and race/ethnicity. Females have lower
dropout rates than males. Asian and white students have below average dropout rates
while other groups have above average rates, with Native Americans having the highest
dropout rates. Native American students represent approximately 6 percent of students
enrolled, but account for over 13 percent of the dropouts.
Table 4. Dropout Rates by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
Gender
Enrollment
Dropouts
Rate
State
508,808
23,996
4.7%
Female
247,634
10,254
4.1
Male
261,174
13,742
5.3
Race/Ethnicity
African/American
Asian
Hispanic
Native American
White

28,111
12,464
188,723
33,984
245,526

1,360
227
11,529
3,147
7,733

4.8
1.8
6.1
9.3
3.1

This is the first dropout rate report in a series released by ADE to report dropout
rates by special populations: special education, economically disadvantaged (as measured
by eligibility for a free or reduced lunch), and English language learners. These rates are
given in table 5 below. Note that the enrollment count is lower than in the above tables.
This is because summer dropouts are not included. Students who leave in the summer are

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Arizona Department of Education
Annual Dropout Rate Study: 2005-2006
not technically members of the programs used to determine the special populations. The
dropout rates for the special populations are higher than the state average.
Table 5. Dropout Rates by Special Populations
Enrollment Dropouts

Rate

State

495,357

21,152

4.3%

Special Education

54,717

2,417

4.4

Economically Disadvantaged

174,708

7,949

4.5

English Language Learners

42,194

2,087

4.9

Reasons for Dropping Out
Table 6 shows the reason students were classified as dropouts. Status unknown
accounts for two-thirds of the dropouts.
Table 6. Dropouts by Reason
Expelled

Status
Unknown

Dropout

GED

Vocational
School

Completion
(AIMS)

Total
Dropouts

Number

1,635

15,998

3,462

2,700

69

132

23,996

Percent of
Total
Dropouts

6.8%

66.7%

14.4%

11.3%

0.3%

0.6%

100%

Table 7 displays the reasons for dropping out over time. It compares the dropouts
by reason in the current report (2005-06 school year) with to the report for the 2004-05
school year, as well as to the 2000-01 school year (the first time the current dropout
reasons were used). Even though enrollments have increased over this time, not only has
the dropout rate decreased, but the absolute number of students dropping out has fallen as
well, and is less than half of what it was during the 2000-01 school year. Status unknown
remains the largest reason students are counted as dropouts despite the conversion to a
statewide, student-level database to track students. Students leaving to obtain a GED has
increased significantly as a proportion of students dropping out over the past decade.

School
Year
2005-06
2004-05
2000-01

Illness
NA
NA
504
2.3%
436
1.3%

Expelled
1,635
6.8%
1,881
8.6%
2,185
6.6%

Table 7. Dropouts by Reason over Time
Status
Vocational
Dropout
GED
Unknown
School
15,998
3,462
2,700
69
66.7%
14.4%
11.3%
0.3%
14,527
3,032
1,934
78
66.3%
13.8%
8.8%
0.4%
21,075
7,896
1,386
77
63.8%
23.9%
4.2%
0.2%

6

Completion
(AIMS)
132
0.6%
NA
NA
NA
NA

Total
Dropouts
23,996
21,956
33,055

Arizona Department of Education
Annual Dropout Rate Study: 2005-2006

Dropout Rates by School and District
The dropout rates for schools and districts are reported on the ADE web site.
Table 8 below provides summary statistics for school-level dropout rates. Schools were
only included in the summaries if they had an enrollment of greater than ten students.
Table 8. Summary Statistics for School-Level Dropout Rates
Average
Median
Standard Deviation
Maximum
6.4
2.2
9.8
63.3

7