Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic: Annual Update 2012

This 2012 report update provides a number of key findings that demonstrate the U.S. continues to make progress in curbing high school dropout, with more than half of states increasing graduation rates. Among the findings, the report notes that the number of "dropout factory" high schools decreased by 457 between 2002 and 2010; the number of “dropout factories” totaled number declined by 84 between 2009 and 2010. As a result, 790,000 fewer students attended dropout factories in 2010 than 2002. The report also found that national graduation rate increased by 3.5 percentage points between 2001 and 2009, from 72 percent to 75.5 percent in 2009.