Missoula Drop-Out and Graduation Rates Look Positive [Audio]

Preliminary data for the drop-out rate in Missoula is around 2.5%, which is very similar to the dropout rate for 2011. The good news, is that this number is still preliminary, one of the steps that has not been finalized is the calculation of students that leave one school and go to another in either a different county or different state. There are likely many students that simply changed schools, which means that Missoula will almost certainly have a lower drop-out rate than it has had in previous years.  According to Mark Thane, one of the Regional Directors for Missoula County Public Schools, this is the first year that the United States will use the same formula for calculating the graduation rate of students from state to state. That method just happens to be the same method that Montana has used for the last three years. As a state, Montana's graduation rate is around 81% and Missoula's averages will likely be in the upper 80's to lower 90's. Thane goes into more of these details and gives some of the impacts of the Graduation Matters program in the following interview.