National Center for Education Statistics
The high school dropout rate was 3.9 percent for the 2004-2005 school year – similar to the two preceding years – for the 46 states that provided the U.S. Department of Education with data on 80 percent of the nation’s students. The report breaks down the dropout statistics by gender, ethnicity and region, finding that California, New York and Texas had the highest number of dropouts. The center is the main federal agency that gathers, analyzes and publishes education data. Free. 35 pages. (202) 502-7300, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008305.pdf.
