Three public high schools in D.C. and three more in Maryland’s Prince George’s County are on a list of the schools nationwide with the weakest three-year-averages for promoting students, according to new data released Tuesday.

The report, by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, found that in close to 2,000 high schools in the United States — or one in 10 — 60 percent or less of the students advanced from freshman to senior status on time.

Campuses with such drastic problems keeping high schoolers in line were classified as dropout factories, a distinction belonging to the following regional schools: Ballou, Bell and Woodson high schools in D.C.; Bladensburg, High Point and Forestville high schools in Prince George’s.

The worst of the six, based on the analysis, was Woodson, where for the classes of 2004, 2005 and 2006, a mere 48 percent of students progressed from their first to fourth years of high school without any hitches.

This story continues below
Advertisement

The three-year averages in Ballou and Bell were 49 and 53 percent, respectively, while the trio of Prince George’s sites mentioned ranged from Forestville at 52 percent to High Point at 60 percent, and Bladensburg halfway between them. School officials could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

But the issue of students dropping out and failing to graduate from public high schools has plagued the nation’s capital for years.

Herb Tillery, executive director of the College Success Foundation, told The Examiner earlier this year it’s believed that fewer than 1 in 10 D.C. public school students make it through both high school and college.

The dismal statistics even prompted former D.C. Superintendent Clifford Janey to create the Double the Numbers Coalition, which is still working on a comprehensive plan for the city’s youth.

Johns Hopkins researchers, in looking at characteristics of schools that fared worst, found that race and poverty were critical.

For instance, a majority minority high school is five times more likely to promote half or less of freshmen to senior year status.

However, majority minority high schools with more resources were discovered to have students that progressed through high school at about the same rates as white schools.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com