School Tries to Beat Drop Out Odds

Julia McEvoy:

High schools are supposed to produce graduates. But some schools are dubbed drop out factories. At Chicago's Robeson High, on the city's South Side, the graduation rate is just 39 percent. It is a place where more students quit than graduate. Almost all of the 1,300 kids here fail to meet state standards. But everyday, there are administrators, teachers and students who come to school hoping to make a difference. We're spending time at Robeson High because we want to understand the complex issues that go into a student's decision to quit. And we want to know why other students in the same place hang in there and graduate against the odds.

"This school is not for the faint of heart."--Principal Morrow.

Related: Meet the students and teachers from 50/50: The Odds of Graduating.

A week before school starts, Robeson staff gathers in the media center to go over what to expect.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 11, 2009 1:33 AM
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