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Monday, May 17, 2010

South Dakota Open Enrollment Winners and Losers

Some people think the No Child Left Behind "Report Cards" are valid measures of school quality. I suggest you can find a better market-based measure of school quality on this spreadsheet included in Sunday's front-page article on the open-enrollment competition between small schools and large schools. This Department of Education data shows how many students open enroll out of each South Dakota school district and which districts they choose over their home district.

The schools with the biggest net gain thanks to open enrollment:

Sioux Falls 49-5 627
Chester 39-1 221
Oelrichs 23-3 113
Pierre 32-2 87
Tea Area School District 70

Chester's remarkable numbers on open enrollment come in part from students from far-flung locales like Ipswich , Leola, Parkston, and Doland, likely numbers from their online education program for Hutterite students.

The biggest losers in competing for open enrollees:

Harrisburg 41-2 -254
Shannon County 65-1 -128
Brandon Valley 49-2 -126
Canton 41-1 -93
Lennox 41-4 -90

By open enrollment net gain as a percentage of total fall 2009 enrollment, these five districts come out on top:

Oelrichs 23-3 89.68%
Roslyn 18-2 50.75%
Henry 14-2 40.40%
Chester 39-1 33.69%
Ethan 17-1 25.11%

Worth noting: Oelrichs, the school district where a Native American student has sued for the right to wear his Lakota ceremonial garb for graduation, owes nearly 90% of its total enrollment to open enrollment from Shannon County.

And the five biggest losers on that stat:

Grant-Deuel 25-3 -31.51%
Oldham-Ramona 39-5 -27.20%
Eagle Butte 20-1 -25.90%
Scotland 04-3 -20.08%
McLaughlin 15-2 -18.71%

Locally, it's no wonder Superintendent Vince Schaefer doesn't like Rutland buses picking up kids in Madison: our district loses 21 kids to Rutland and coaxes only 5 to come back this way. To Chester we lose 44 while drawing only 15. As a percentage of population, Madison's figures perhaps aren't so bad, but on raw numbers, more people are voting with their feet to leave Madison Central than to come to it.

Now these numbers aren't a pure gauge of competitive edge. Some schools, like Groton and Timber Lake, benefit from being the first choice of families from nearby districts closed by the Rounds Administration (pace Conde and Isabel). But to a large extent, these numbers reflect the market choices made by citizens who look at all the data available and decide where they want their kids to go to school... a pretty serious decision.

The full list:

School Net Gain from Open Enrollment Net as % of Total Enrollment Fall 2009
Aberdeen 06-1 2 0.05%
Agar-Blunt-Onida 58-3 -5 -1.80%
Alcester-Hudson 61-1 -57 -18.10%
Andes Central 11-1 -51 -13.28%
Arlington 38-1 -37 -11.82%
Armour 21-1 20 11.56%
Avon 04-1 34 14.11%
Baltic 49-1 21 4.53%
Belle Fourche 09-1 9 0.68%
Bennett County 03-1 13 2.23%
Beresford 61-2 35 5.56%
Big Stone City 25-1 7 6.48%
Bison 52-1 -3 -2.22%
Bon Homme 04-2 -4 -0.69%
Bowdle 22-1 7 5.26%
Brandon Valley 49-2 -126 -3.94%
Bridgewater 43-6 -17 -15.60%
Britton-Hecla 45-4 22 4.35%
Brookings 05-1 17 0.61%
Burke 26-2 -9 -4.55%
Canistota 43-1 16 6.48%
Canton 41-1 -93 -10.86%
Castlewood 28-1 2 0.66%
Centerville 60-1 0 0.00%
Chamberlain 07-1 8 0.93%
Chester 39-1 221 33.69%
Clark 12-2 -24 -6.09%
Colman-Egan 50-5 -44 -17.12%
Colome Consolidated 59-1 60 22.47%
Corsica 21-2 -3 -1.67%
Custer 16-1 -41 -4.51%
Dakota Valley 61-8 40 3.67%
De Smet 38-2 31 9.72%
Dell Rapids 49-3 21 2.40%
Deubrook 05-6 -11 -3.02%
Deuel 19-4 -33 -6.03%
Doland 56-2 -27 -16.67%
Douglas 51-1 28 1.14%
Dupree 64-2 60 16.62%
Eagle Butte 20-1 -72 -25.90%
Edgemont 23-1 6 4.00%
Edmunds Central 22-5 -15 -10.56%
Elk Mountain 16-2 -3 -11.11%
Elk Point-Jefferson 61-7 -24 -3.31%
Elkton 05-3 4 1.14%
Emery 30-2 9 5.03%
Estelline 28-2 2 0.72%
Ethan 17-1 56 25.11%
Eureka 44-1 15 7.77%
Faith 46-2 48 22.33%
Faulkton Area Schools Dis -8 -2.51%
Flandreau 50-3 -13 -2.11%
Florence 14-1 56 24.67%
Frederick Area 06-2 0 0.00%
Freeman 33-1 -1 -0.27%
Garretson 49-4 -8 -1.46%
Gayville-Volin 63-1 24 9.72%
Gettysburg 53-1 28 11.52%
Grant-Deuel 25-3 -46 -31.51%
Gregory 26-4 9 2.49%
Groton Area School Distri -10 -1.58%
Haakon 27-1 24 8.14%
Hamlin 28-3 -25 -3.66%
Hanson 30-1 5 1.33%
Harding County 31-1 -10 -4.72%
Harrisburg 41-2 -254 -11.55%
Henry 14-2 61 40.40%
Herreid 10-1 21 15.79%
Highmore-Harrold School D -12 -4.10%
Hill City 51-2 6 1.19%
Hitchcock-Tulare School D -24 -10.21%
Hot Springs 23-2 5 0.58%
Hoven 53-2 -21 -16.80%
Howard 48-3 -7 -1.87%
Hurley 60-2 -22 -15.07%
Huron 02-2 -81 -3.85%
Ipswich Public School Dis -55 -14.44%
Irene-Wakonda 13-3 -27 -9.47%
Iroquois 02-3 -19 -9.64%
Jones County 37-3 16 9.64%
Kadoka Area 35-2 -35 -10.00%
Kimball 07-2 4 1.49%
Lake Preston 38-3 25 12.63%
Langford 45-2 -13 -6.16%
Lead-Deadwood 40-1 -12 -1.41%
Lemmon School 52-2 26 8.50%
Lennox 41-4 -90 -9.58%
Leola 44-2 -38 -15.90%
Lyman 42-1 -15 -3.81%
Madison Central 39-2 -33 -2.88%
Marion 60-3 -8 -3.88%
McCook Central 43-7 -3 -0.79%
McIntosh 15-1 31 15.35%
McLaughlin 15-2 -81 -18.71%
Meade 46-1 -33 -1.33%
Menno 33-2 24 8.33%
Milbank 25-4 29 3.32%
Miller Area School Distri 9 1.97%
Mitchell 17-2 -13 -0.53%
Mobridge-Pollock School D -18 -2.69%
Montrose 43-2 7 3.24%
Mount Vernon 17-3 24 10.13%
New Underwood 51-3 42 16.09%
Newell 09-2 9 2.66%
Northwestern Area School -7 -2.16%
Oelrichs 23-3 113 89.68%
Oldham-Ramona 39-5 -34 -27.20%
Parker 60-4 4 1.15%
Parkston 33-3 -27 -4.53%
Pierre 32-2 87 3.44%
Plankinton 01-1 2 0.68%
Platte-Geddes 11-5 -22 -5.00%
Rapid City 51-4 -86 -0.65%
Redfield 56-4 10 1.62%
Rosholt 54-4 38 17.27%
Roslyn 18-2 34 50.75%
Rutland 39-4 15 14.02%
Sanborn Central 55-5 -4 -2.01%
Scotland 04-3 -53 -20.08%
Selby 62-5 -18 -8.65%
Shannon County 65-1 -128 -10.79%
Sioux Falls 49-5 627 3.00%
Sioux Valley 05-5 27 4.72%
Sisseton 54-2 -56 -5.74%
Smee 15-3 42 19.53%
South Central 26-5 -1 -0.67%
Spearfish 40-2 25 1.26%
Stanley County 57-1 -56 -11.64%
Stickney 01-2 -2 -1.52%
Summit 54-6 0 0.00%
Tea Area School District 70 5.70%
Timber Lake 20-3 62 19.31%
Todd County 66-1 -18 -0.90%
Tripp-Delmont 33-5 -33 -14.73%
Tri-Valley 49-6 -84 -10.04%
Vermillion 13-1 25 1.93%
Viborg 60-5 32 12.03%
Wagner 11-4 37 4.75%
Wall 51-5 6 2.55%
Warner 06-5 50 16.72%
Watertown 14-4 -47 -1.25%
Waubay 18-3 -16 -8.89%
Waverly 14-5 29 12.45%
Webster 18-4 -15 -3.02%
Wessington Springs 36-2 14 4.70%
West Central 49-7 -39 -3.05%
White Lake 01-3 -3 -2.31%
White River 47-1 -1 -0.24%
Willow Lake 12-3 -5 -2.65%
Wilmot 54-7 5 2.06%
Winner 59-2 -56 -7.89%
Wolsey-Wessington School 39 14.61%
Woonsocket 55-4 -27 -14.84%
Yankton 63-3 -37 -1.33%

1 comment:

  1. An interesting run of numbers would be the rate of change from one year to the next. At Deuel, (where I teach) most of the 33 that open enroll out are Canby, MN students. The main reason for that is folks from Canby build their "dream" home on Lake Cocharine. The children remain in the Canby system since that is the school system they know, and it is equal distance from Clear Lake. While I wouldn't praise/condemn a school district strictly on these numbers, it would make me ask WHY. Answering that question will show the differences that exist between school districts.

    ReplyDelete

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