Student stability rates are the subject of new reports from the California Department of Education.
The Stability Rates Report for 2019–20, as well as the Stability Rates Report (with County Data), released in late October, are available to view via the CDE’s DataQuest site.
Following requests from educators, policymakers and stakeholders throughout the state, the reports were created to determine the number and percentage of students who receive a “full year” of instruction— July 1 to June 30. While the report finds that overall, students are relatively stable in their schools, stability rates were lower for vulnerable student groups such as youth in foster care and homeless students.
“I commend the work of the Analysis, Measurement & Accountability Reporting Division at the CDE in creating this report, which is another valuable tool for us to identify and assist our most vulnerable students,” said CDE Chief Deputy Superintendent Mary Nicely, lead for Information and Technology Branch in a statement. “While most students do not move schools, some students move schools once or twice, and very few students move a lot. State and national foster youth advocacy groups have been requesting for years that California publish this data, since it is a great conversation starter on the rights of our vulnerable students on still attending the same school even if they are forced to relocate.”
Among the report’s key findings is that statewide, the percentage of students who are stable has been consistent in the last three years at between 91 and 92 percent. In 2019–20, high schoolers and kindergarteners has the lowest rates of stability at 89 percent and 90 percent, respectively.
The state’s stability rate for the school year did vary across student groups. At 91 percent, students with disabilities had the highest stability rate. The lowest rates of stability were observed among foster youth at 65.8 percent and homeless youth at 79.5 percent.
Disaggregated by race/ethnicity, statewide, the groups with the highest stability rates were Filipino students at 95.7 percent and Asian students at 94.5 percent. Alternately, African American students had the lowest stability rate at 84.5 percent.
Looking by county, Marin County had the highest stability rate in 2019–20 at 95.2 percent and Inyo had the lowest at 59.6 percent.
There are stability rate downloadable data files available to view on the CDE’s website. Learn more on the department’s information page.
