When students were asked via a written survey what the impact of SES was on student performance while at school, results showed that student attitudes and behaviors were more positive in comparison to other schools in their district and the average of other schools in Minnesota. Table 1 shows the attendance rates for the SES during the past two years. Table 2 indicates that dropout rates were lower for the SES in contrast to the overall average for District 196 and Minnesota. In addition, discipline cases were much less for the SES in comparison to their home high school, and graduation rates were higher for SES students. The smaller size and school climate of the SES were stated as being the major factors that played an important role in student motivation. About 91 percent of the SES graduates attended post-secondary education following graduation in technical colleges, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities.

Table 1: Daily Attendance for 1996-97 and 1997-98		Table 2: Dropout rates for 1996-97 and 1997-98*
Year	Average Daily Attendance	Year	SES	District 196	Minnesota
1996-97	95%	1996-97	0.25%	1.7%	3.7%
1997-98	96%	1997-98	0.00%	N/A	3.3%

Academic Performance

In a study completed at the school during the 1997/98 school year, the SES 11th and 12th grade students had higher test scores when compared to other schools in their district and state and national averages. As shown in Table 3, the SES scores on all areas of the ACT academic tests exceeded state and national averages. A low writing score in 1997 led to some curricular changes that were reflected in an improved 1998 writing score.

Table 3: ACT Test Scores in Academic Content Areas and Composite for 1996-97 and 1997-98
Year	% Students Taking Test	Area	English	Math	Reading	Science	Composite
1996-97	60%	SES	22.6	22.1	24.7	24.1	23.3
		District 196	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22.4
		Minnesota	21.2	21.8	22.5	22.5	22.1
		National	20.3	20.6	21.3	21.1	21.0
1997-98	65%	SES	22.5	22.5	24.6	24.2	23.6
		District 196	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22.8
		Minnesota	21.2	22.2	22.3	22.5	22.2
		National	20.4	20.8	21.4	21.1	21.0