Between 2002 and 2009 Nevada's graduation rate fell from 71 percent to 56 percent. That 15 percentage point drop is the worst among all states according to a new report from the national group, America's Promise Alliance. Nevada falls far below the national graduation rate which increased by 3.5 percentage points between 2001 and 2009 from 72 percent to 75.5 percent in 2009.
Report authors note that Nevada has taken its position as the state with the lowest graduation rate to heart citing both Clark and Washoe counties which have significant efforts underway to accelerate graduation rates but still need to accelerate existing efforts. We talk with one of the co-authors of the report about what led to Nevada's huge drop in graduation rates.
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John Bridgeland, CEO of Civic Enterprises, America's Promise Alliance and co-author, Building a Grad Nation:Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic Annual Update 2012