Appendix A—Technical Notes: Defining and Calculating Event Dropout Rates Using the CCD

The definition that was agreed upon by NCES and the states was the following:

The denominator of the rate is the October 1st membership count for the state for the grades for which the dropout rate is being calculated. For example, the dropout rate for grades 9 through 12 would use a denominator that equals the October 1st enrollment count for grades 9 through 12.

The numerator (dropouts) is all individuals who

• were enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year;
• were not enrolled at the beginning of the current school year;
• have not graduated from high school or completed a state- or district-approved education program; and
• do not meet any of the following exclusionary conditions: transferred to another public school district, private school, or state- or district-approved education program; temporary absence due to suspension or school-approved education program; or death.

For the purpose of this definition

• the school year is the 12-month period of time from the first day of school (operationally set as October 1), with dropouts from the previous summer reported for the year and grade in which they fail to enroll;
• individuals who are not accounted for on October 1 are considered dropouts; and,
• an individual has graduated from high school or completed a state- or district-approved education program upon receipt of formal recognition from school authorities. A state- or district-approved education program may consist of special education and district- or state-sponsored GED preparation.

NCES is currently considering options for imputing missing dropout data. If implemented, the imputations may result in somewhat different estimates of dropout rates than presented in this report.

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