Black students in Massachusetts had a dropout rate of more than six percent, while the rate for Hispanics was more than nine percent

Associated Press:

State education officials say the high school dropout rate rose slightly during the last school year to three-point-eight percent -- but rates for minority students remain much higher.

More than eleven-thousand Massachusetts students in grades nine through 12 dropped out in 2004-2005.

The rate was up one-tenth of a point from the previous year.

Black students had a dropout rate of more than six percent, while the rate for Hispanics was more than nine percent.

The dropout rate is calculated based on enrollment figures. A dropout is a student who leaves school before graduation, doesn't transfer to another school and doesn't re-enroll before the next school year.

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