Those Graduation Rates Are High Despite Children Left Behind: Mathematically, that just doesn’t work.

Posted on July 12, 2008 by mmjdiary

There was some disconnect.  Mississippi had 13,000 high-school dropouts per year, but it was reporting to the U.S. Department of Education that its graduation rate was 87%.  Then came the study from Promise Alliance, a nonprofit group working to keep kids in school (www.promisealliance.org), that found on-time graduation rates in Detroit to be 24.9% and 30.5% in Indianapolis.  Schools boards there were also surprised, given their reported rates to the USDE, which hovered around 70%.  What happened?   The schools administrators were grappling with the classic problem of pressure.  We want results, we emphasize results, and we reward results.  So, those under pressure to get those results find a way.  Higher graduation rates bring rewards to the districts.  Lower test scores take away rewards.  School districts had their goal: Get those students who bring the test scores down out of school, but keep reported graduation rates high.  Oh, the means they found to affect those means. Some states only counted students who dropped out during 12th grade.  Turns out that if you make it to 12th grade, you tend to hang in there for that last year.  But measuring what happens from student entry in 9th grade does paint a different picture. We lose most of them at grades 10 and 11. Other states counted as graduates those students who left high school but made sincere enough promises to earn their GEDs.  As a result, overstatement of graduation rates by the states ranged from 10 to 24%. 

The remedy is the same one Congress, the SEC, and other regulators use when businesses do not paint an accurate picture of their finances:  Regulation.  Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced a mandatory federal standard on reporting graduation rates.  No more graduation rate engineering because the USDE now determines who counts, who doesn’t count, when we measure, how we measure, and on and on. 

“Figures don’t lie, but liars do figure!” The old Southern adage proves to be true.  The real lesson, however, is watching those incentive programs that create manipulators.  Bad apples or bad barrel? We shouldn’t leave false impressions, and the manipulation of the graduation rates was just plain wrong.  But good leaders monitor the culture and incentives that can create a bad barrel for good apples. Make the goals clear, but draw the lines they cannot cross to get those results.  And remind them of your vision and purpose:  getting kids to finish high school.  The real goal was lost in the quest to meet the numbers.  So it is with business.  The real goal of creating real value, for customers and shareholders, is lost in settling for just meeting numbers.   

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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