Milpitas Unified School District’s dropout rate in the 2018-19 school year decreased by 12.5 percent compared to the previous school year’s dropout rate of 3.2 percent, according to the California Department of Education.
CDE data of graduation and dropout rates confirms there is a growing achievement gap between Latino, Black, and English learner students. The achievement gap refers to the disparities in academic performance associated with race and class.
According to data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2018, of the 48 states where data was collected, Black males remain at the bottom of four-year high school graduation rates.
Closing the achievement gap earlier in the schooling process, such as during elementary school, can improve high school graduation rates and decrease dropout rates. Individually tailored student support is one way that is proposed to accomplish this.
In The Long-Term Impact of Systemic Student Support in Elementary School: Reducing High School Dropout, Terrence J. Lee-St. John, a Biostatistician at the Research Department of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, says, “Students often fail to complete high school for complex reasons that often manifest long before they reach high school. Individually tailored student support during elementary school can lead to lasting and meaningful effects.”
| Ranking | District | Drop-out rate | 2017-18 Drop-out rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biggs Unified | 0 | 8.6 |
| 1 | Durham Unified | 0 | 1.2 |
| 1 | Maxwell Unified | 0 | 3.4 |
| 1 | Buckeye Union Elementary | 0 | — |
| 1 | Sierra Unified | 0 | 1.6 |
| 1 | Princeton Joint Unified | 0 | — |
| 1 | Ferndale Unified | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Big Pine Unified | 0 | — |
| 1 | Muroc Joint Unified | 0 | 0.8 |
| 1 | Big Valley Joint Unified | 0 | 7.7 |
| 1 | Hawthorne | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Tulelake Basin Joint Unified | 0 | 2.8 |
| 1 | Loomis Union Elementary | 0 | 6.3 |
| 1 | Menifee Union Elementary | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Aromas – San Juan Unified | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | La Honda-Pescadero Unified | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Geyserville Unified | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Nuestro Elementary | 0 | — |
| 1 | Mountain Valley Unified | 0 | 4.3 |
| 1 | SBE – New West Charter | 0 | 6.9 |
| 1 | SBE – The School of Arts and Enterprise | 0 | 5.3 |
| 23 | Manhattan Beach Unified | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| 24 | Arcadia Unified | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| 24 | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| … | |||
| 99 | Castro Valley Unified | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| 99 | Brawley Union High | 2.4 | 3.3 |
| 99 | Downey Unified | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| 99 | Natomas Unified | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| 99 | Newman-Crows Landing Unified | 2.4 | 1.9 |
| 104 | Covina-Valley Unified | 2.5 | 2.8 |
| 104 | Lawndale Elementary | 2.5 | 6.1 |
| 104 | Temple City Unified | 2.5 | 1.2 |
| 104 | Tamalpais Union High | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| 104 | Mammoth Unified | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| 104 | Carpinteria Unified | 2.5 | 1.7 |
| 104 | Winship-Robbins | 2.5 | 6.7 |
| 104 | Dinuba Unified | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| 112 | California School for the Deaf-Fremont (State Special Schl) | 2.6 | 0 |
| 112 | Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified | 2.6 | 2.3 |
| 112 | San Jacinto Unified | 2.6 | 1.1 |
| 112 | Temecula Valley Unified | 2.6 | 2.1 |
| 116 | Dublin Unified | 2.7 | 0.7 |
| 116 | Emery Unified | 2.7 | 5.4 |
| 116 | Parlier Unified | 2.7 | 3.9 |
| 116 | Riverdale Joint Unified | 2.7 | 4.3 |
| 116 | Campbell Union High | 2.7 | 3.5 |
| 116 | East Nicolaus Joint Union High | 2.7 | 3.6 |
| 116 | Camptonville Elementary | 2.7 | 2.2 |
| 123 | Hamilton Unified | 2.8 | 1.6 |
| 123 | Milpitas Unified | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| 123 | Red Bluff Joint Union High | 2.8 | 2.7 |
| 123 | Davis Joint Unified | 2.8 | 2 |
| 127 | Williams Unified | 2.9 | 1.9 |
| 127 | Clovis Unified | 2.9 | 2.2 |
| 127 | Northern Humboldt Union High | 2.9 | 5.2 |
| 127 | Wiseburn Unified | 2.9 | 2.1 |
| 127 | Huntington Beach Union High | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 127 | Manteca Unified | 2.9 | 3.3 |
| 127 | Lindsay Unified | 2.9 | 5 |
| 134 | Liberty Union High | 3 | 2.6 |
| 134 | Del Norte County Unified | 3 | 3.9 |
| 134 | Black Oak Mine Unified | 3 | 9.4 |
| 134 | Glendale Unified | 3 | 3.5 |
| 134 | San Marcos Unified | 3 | 0.9 |
| 134 | West Sonoma County Union High | 3 | 2.5 |
| 140 | Albany City Unified | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 140 | Calipatria Unified | 3.1 | 2.3 |
| 140 | Taft Union High | 3.1 | 2 |
| 140 | Elk Grove Unified | 3.1 | 4.6 |
| 144 | Calaveras Unified | 3.2 | 4.1 |
| 144 | Selma Unified | 3.2 | 5.2 |
| 144 | Bellflower Unified | 3.2 | 2.5 |
| 144 | Chawanakee Unified | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| 144 | Laytonville Unified | 3.2 | 7.4 |
| 144 | Hilmar Unified | 3.2 | 0 |
| … | |||
| 506 | Adelanto Elementary | 43.9 | 47.2 |
| 507 | Merced County Office of Education | 44.6 | 32.1 |
| 508 | Shasta County Office of Education | 45.1 | 43.8 |
| 509 | Riverside County Office of Education | 45.9 | 45.9 |
| 510 | Yuba County Office of Education | 47.2 | 31.9 |
| 511 | Meridian Elementary | 48.3 | 39.3 |
| 512 | Santa Cruz County Office of Education | 49.3 | 20.4 |
| 512 | Santa Clara County Office of Education | 49.3 | 27.1 |
| 514 | San Diego County Office of Education | 50.7 | 57.8 |
| 515 | Glenn County Office of Education | 52.1 | 56 |
| 516 | San Francisco County Office of Education | 52.6 | 39.4 |
| 517 | Imperial County Office of Education | 54.2 | 33 |
| 518 | Santa Barbara County Office of Education | 54.5 | 65.5 |
| 519 | Twin Hills Union Elementary | 55.2 | 2.7 |
| 520 | San Bernardino County Office of Education | 57.7 | 59.4 |
| 521 | Guerneville Elementary | 60.7 | — |
| 522 | Nevada County Office of Education | 61.9 | 49.6 |
| 523 | Lake County Office of Education | 63.6 | — |
| 524 | Yolo County Office of Education | 65.5 | 80.2 |
| 525 | Sonoma County Office of Education | 68.4 | 47 |
| 526 | Trona Joint Unified | 68.8 | 50 |
| 527 | Solano County Office of Education | 71 | 69 |
| 528 | Cuyama Joint Unified | 79 | 16.7 |
| 529 | Bradley Union Elementary | 82.1 | 37.5 |
| 530 | Hart-Ransom Union Elementary | 89.5 | 4.5 |
