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ploma means something in terms of marketable skills,” he said.
He would like to see a program emphasizing general rather than vocation-specific skills. “Perhaps we should look at something of a entrepreneur-type program,” he said. "All students need problem-solving skills.”
On measurements for increasing the graduation rate, Rappahannock students improved on four measures and did worse on two. More sixth grade students passed all three sections of the literacy passpost test on the first try. Fewer students dropped out of school between seventh and 12th grades.
One measurement that dropped was attendance. The state measures that by determining the percentage of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who miss 10 or fewer days of school. In the 1989-90 school year 82 percent of Rappahannock’s students met that criterion. Last year, only 62 percent did.
This was a problem throughout the state. The state percentage dropped from 68 to 66 percent. In this area Culpeper dropped from 70 to 61 percent. Fauquier County students dropped from 94 to 61 percent, and Warren County students dropped from 61 to 56 percent.
Attendance improved in two adjoining counties, Madison and Page, increasing from 65 to 69 percent in Madison and from 58 to 64 percent in Page.
Dr. Gangel said he felt the increased effort to keep students in school might actually be contributing to the increased rate of absences. “We have made a whole-hearted effort to keep children in school,” he said.
“In the past when they were absent a certain number of days, we
87.7%