NH School District Profiles
ENROLLMENT DATA EXPLAINED
August, 2007
“School” in this Profile refers to an approved instructional program, not a building. In smaller school districts an “elementary school” and a “high school” may occupy a single school building, but the data is reported separately for each approval level. A few districts offer full-day kindergarten, but most are half-day programs. Pre-kindergarten programs are usually fewer than five half-days per week.
October 1st Enrollment and Race/Ethnicity Data
This data is an October 1st head count of students attending NH public schools each year. Home schooled students are not included in the grade level enrollments and are not included in the other reported statistics. The number of home schooled students monitored by the district is shown on the district level enrollment page.
Percent High School Vocational Enrollment
An end-of-year count of vocational participation has been divided by the October 1st enrollment. Students may attend a vocational program at their own school or travel to another school for vocational instruction. The rate reported here represents the percentage of high school students participating in a vocational program either within or outside of the district where they normally attend high school. This data is not currently reported.
Percent Limited English Proficiency
This percentage is based on the number of students receiving at least 40 minutes per day of instruction to address their limited proficiency in English. The rate is based on the October 1st enrollment. The minimum hours per day for reporting purposes did not apply to counts taken prior to the 03-04 school year.
Percent Title I
This percentage is based on the number of participants reported at the end of the school year. This number has been divided by the October 1st enrollment. Some schools provide Title I services to all students. This data is collected only at the district level.
Percent Eligible for Free or Reduced Lunch
The number of students that have been certified as eligible to participate in the federally funded Free and Reduced Priced Meals Program is collected in October/November each year. This number has been divided by the October 1st enrollment in grades 1 and higher.
Attendance rate is based on the number of half-days of attendance and half-days of absence reported at the end of the school year. Prior to 06-07, this data is collected at the district level only.
Dropout Rate
In the fall of 2001, the Department began collecting dropout data using definitions and a formula closely aligned with federal reporting standards. 2000-2001 was a transition year and not all school districts were completely aligned with the new definition. As a result, 2000-2001 data should NOT be used as a base line year. Instead, data for 2001-2002 should be used as a baseline.
A 2001-2002 dropout is a student who completed the 2000-2001 school year but did not return to school in September 2001 or a student who dropped out during the 2001-2002 school year and did not return by September 2002.
Not counted as dropouts are students who are home schooled, suspended/temporarily expelled, transferred, truant, incarcerated, deceased or home bound.
Annual Dropout Rate
Each October 1st, the dropout count is reported for the previous school year. The number of dropouts is then divided by the October 1st enrollment count plus the count of September dropouts for that same year. For example, the 2003-2004 dropout count was divided by the October 1, 2003 enrollment plus the number of students who dropped out in September of 2003. (September dropouts are primarily those students who do not return after the summer.)
Dropout Rate =
2003-2004 Dropout Count
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2003 Fall Enrollment + September 2003 Dropouts
Estimated Cumulative Rate
The Estimated Cumulative Rate represents an estimate of the percentage of students who will drop out before graduation. The cumulative formula applies the annual rate to a progressively declining base population. The actual formula used is 1 - (1 - annual rate)^4.
Average Class Size
The number of students reported in each grade from 1st though 8th is divided by the number of classrooms reported for that grade. Averages for each grade range are based on one or more grades within the range. Not all districts operate all grades. A grade has been excluded if course options available to the students result in classes of varying size throughout the day. Readiness and Special Education classes have not been included in the averages.
Students per Teacher
The total enrollment of all grades, excluding pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, has been divided by the full-time equivalent of all teachers, except teachers of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, who spend at least half their time in the classroom. These include regular classroom teachers as well as special education teachers, and teachers of the arts. Teachers assigned to more than one school are prorated to each school.
Students per Education Specialist
The total enrollment of all grades, has been divided by the full-time equivalent of full and part-time education specialists. Education specialists include guidance counselors, librarians, special education professionals (who teach less than 50% of the time), and other professionals. Professionals assigned to more than one school are prorated to each school. Although most kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students attend less that a full day, those students are counted no differently from full-time students. The student per education specialist ratios are comparable only among schools with a similar mix of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and higher grades.
Students per Administrator
The total enrollment of all grades has been divided by the full-time equivalent of principals and assistant principals. Administrators assigned to more than one school are prorated to each. The treatment of PK and K, and comparability is discussed above.
Educational Attainment of Teachers
Beginning in 1999-2000, this data is shown for full and part-time teachers of grades kindergarten through high school. (Preschool teachers are not included). This data does not include administrators and non-teaching professionals.
Average Teacher Salaries
This data is reported on October 1st of each year and is based on the salaries in effect at that time. The amount reported does not include stipends for co-curricular assignments or longevity compensation. Salaries are reported only at the district level
Minimum and Maximum Salary for BA Degree
These two items have been extracted from the teacher salary schedules submitted by September of each year. Districts still in negotiations sometimes provide the effective (last year’s) salary schedule, while others provide no schedule. Districts that did not provide a schedule are listed as “N/A” (not applicable).
Student to Computer Ratio
This data is collected each year on the Technology Survey. The term “modern computer” is defined in the survey and may change from year to year.