Publisher’s note: In Lake Tahoe Unified School District, South Tahoe High reports 13 dropouts for a rate of 1.1 percent; Mt. Tallac High had 18 drop out for a 18.8 percent rate. In the Tahoe-Truckee Joint Unified District, Tahoe Truckee High lost six students for a rate of 0.8 percent; North Tahoe High had two drop out for a rate of 0.6 percent; and Sierra High lost one student for a rate of 2 percent.

By Phillip Reese and Melody Gutierrez, Sacramento Bee

The high school dropout rate fell sharply in Sacramento and across California during the 2010 school year, as roughly two-thirds of the state’s school districts showed improvement, according to state data released Thursday.

Despite the one-year decline, education leaders say too many students are dropping out of high school, especially among blacks and Latinos.

This year report is billed as the most accurate picture of student graduation rates because they were tracked for four years by the state’s California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, or CALPADS.

In previous years, school district officials expressed skepticism over the four-year dropout rates, which were calculated using assumptions because the system had yet to collect four years of data.

In releasing the data Thursday, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said the conversation about dropout rates now can move from how they were calculated to how to lower statewide figures.

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