High school retention: Oakland's charter schools vs. OUSD schools

Are the privately-operated charter high schools in Oakland doing a better job than Oakland Unified School District's high schools with holding onto their freshman students until the twelfth grade?

One way to explore the answer is by comparing the enrollment at the different schools using figures posted by the California Department of Education’s DataQuest. This was done for the two cohorts at charter high schools and OUSD high schools who entered Grade 9 in 2007-08 and 2008-09, and arrived at Grade 12 for the school years 2010-11 and 2011-12.*

Comparison of Grade 9>12: 2010-11

·    OUSD high schools had a higher student retention rate than Oakland’s charter high schools, by 7.2% points.

·    At OUSD high schools (11 schools this year), the Grade 12 enrollment was 69.1% of the enrollment when that cohort was in Grade 9 (2007-08).

·    At Oakland charter high schools (11 schools this year), the Grade 12 enrollment was 61.9% of their Grade 9 enrollment (2007-08).

·    The retention of students at OUSD high schools ranged from 34% to 100%.

·    The retention of students at Oakland charter schools ranged from 42% to 100%.

Comparison of Grade 9>12: 2011-12

·    Oakland’s charter high schools had a higher student retention rate than OUSD high schools, by 6.7% points.

·    At Oakland charter high schools (13 schools this year), the Grade 12 enrollment was 68.6% of the enrollment when that cohort was in Grade 9 (2008-09).

·    At OUSD high schools (12 schools this year), the Grade 12 enrollment was 61.9% of their Grade 9 enrollment (2008-09).

·    The retention of students at OUSD high schools ranged from 51% to 100%.

·    The retention of students at Oakland charter schools ranged from 48% to 100%.

Most notable is that the charter school results are not that all impressive, especially considering the self-selection aspect that is an unequivocal characteristic of all charter school families. The figures likely demonstrate that Oakland’s charter schools do not necessarily provide immunity against students dropping out. No surprise there.

In addition, it is likely that the high attrition seen at the charter schools known for demanding high levels of compliance -- such as American Indian Public High School and Oakland Military Institute -- are the result of lower performing and/or non-compliant students being pressured (or greatly desiring) to escape leave. There have been reports from other states about students with disciplinary issues being advised by charter school administrators to withdraw from the school in exchange for having their records cleaned.

Special kudos to Life Academy, a small OUSD school that is retaining its students year after year; it is definitely doing something right. 

And stay tuned for more results at the end of the 2012-13 school year. 

* Excluding alternative OUSD and charter high schools.

Enrollment Grade 9 > Grade 12, with percentage Charter schools in blue; OUSD schools in black	2011-12	2010-11	2009-10
American Indian Public High School	37 >21 57%	34>19 56%	52>29 56%
ARISE High School	62>33 53%	63>32 51%	n/a
Bay Area Technology School	36>18 50%	38>16 42%	n/a
Business Information & Technology High School (Castlemont)	116>64 55%	112>71 63%	153>80 52%
Coliseum College Prep Academy	60>52 60%	na	na
College Prep & Architecture Academy (Fremont)	144>80 56%	110>67 61%	129>92 71%
East Oakland Leadership Academy High	21>15 71%	n/a	n/a
East Oakland School of the Arts (Castlemont)	107>58 54%	105>51 49%	85>45 53%
Envision Academy of Arts & Technology	72>59 82%	60>38 53%	62>32 52%
Golden State College Preparatory Academy	29>15 52%	n/a	n/a
Leadership Preparatory High School (Castlemont)	126>64 51%	130>114 88%	116>92 79%
Life Academy	63>62 100%	60>64 100%	65>60 92%
Lighthouse Community Charter High School	60>29 48%	65>31 48%	48>30 63%
Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy	106>52 49%	90>81 90%	165>101 61%
LPS College Park	70>63 90%	110>57 52%	104>63 61%
Mandela High School (Fremont)	136>78 57%	122>74 61%	108>60 56%
McClymonds High School (EXCEL 2009-10, and prior)	111>58 52%	84>79 94%	72>54 75%
Media College Preparatory High School  (Fremont)	110>61 56%	152>51 34%	120>71 59%
Oakland Charter High School	29>32 100%	30>16 53%	n/a
Oakland High School	599>389 65%**	508>387 76%	576>391 68%
Oakland Military Institute	94>51 54%	76>38 50%	86>57 66%
Oakland School for the Arts	77>74 96%	26>47 100%	58>48 83%
Oakland Technical High School	606>401 66%	597>371 62%	563>346 61%
Oakland Unity High School	53>56 100%	49>43 88%	46>51 100%
Skyline High School	709>419 59%	565>429 76%	625>426 68%

**Recalculated since original posting

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