When parents are searching for the right school for their children, it is important for them to find a learning environment that can keep them engaged in their studies. Unfortunately, too many students grow disinterested in their schoolwork and fail to earn a high school diploma.

Between 1980 and 2009, the high school dropout rate in the U.S. fell from 14 percent to 8 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. One state that has managed to make headway in this area is California.

Recently, the California Department of Education announced that 76.3 percent of the students who began high school in 2007 managed to earn their diploma four years later. This number represents a 1.5 percent improvement over the state’s high school graduation rate for 2010.

According to Tom Torlakson, the state superintendent of public instruction, higher graduation rates are the result of hard work on the parts of teachers, administrators, parents and students throughout California. At the same time, there are still pupils giving up on their education before they have a chance to graduate.

"Our research shows that chronic absence from school, even as early as kindergarten, is a strong indicator of whether a child will drop out of school later," Torlakson said. "The dropout rate shows there's still much work to be done, particularly to address the needs of disadvantaged and minority students."

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