An analysis of 13,748 high schools across the country found that about 1,700 schools — including five in Rhode Island — retained only 60 percent or less of their students until senior year.

The study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University for the Associated Press, called the worst performing schools “dropout factories” and included Central and Mount Pleasant high schools in Providence, Tolman in Pawtucket and Johnston and West Warwick high schools among them.

At Central High, just 45 percent of freshmen made it to their senior year, the study said, using data collected from 2004, 2005 and 2006. At Mount Pleasant, 58 percent of freshmen made it to senior year; 54 percent at Tolman and Johnston, and 60 percent at West Warwick, according to the analysis, which averages enrollment data from the three years.

Local school officials conceded that high school retention and graduation rates are not high enough. But they also said that until recently, it was difficult for schools to track students who left school early and accurately report who moved, transferred to a private school or dropped out.

A new system for tracking individual students rolled out three years ago, and more accurate graduation data is expected to be released by the state Department of Education this month, said spokesman Elliot Krieger.

In the national study, Johns Hopkins researchers counted transfer students and students who were held back one or more grades as dropouts, a factor some education officials, both nationally and in Rhode Island, say presents an inaccurate picture of how many students successfully complete high school.

Also, local officials said the enrollment of many urban schools fluctuates because of high rates of student mobility, lowering retention rates. Some low-income families move between urban districts, and students whose parents come from other countries, particularly South America and the Caribbean, sometimes miss a portion of the school year because they travel back to their home country, said Catherine Oneppo, Providence’s supervisor of high schools.

John Hopkins researchers Robert Balfanz and T. Chris West defended their methodology, saying that most missing students had dropped out, and students who transferred into a high school in their sophomore, junior or senior year were counted in the study, helping to offset students who left. They also adjusted their findings for any big one-year dips that might be caused by the closure of a local business or plant, West said.

OFFICIALS AT SEVERAL of the Rhode Island high schools cited say inconsistent record keeping and difficulty tracking students who leave school have contributed to the problem.

According to enrollment data by the state Department of Education, about half of a freshman class of 341 students in 2000 did not return to Johnston High School for their sophomore year, and by senior year, only 166 remained. The class that graduated in 2006 had 276 freshmen in 2002, and only 170 of them made it to their senior year.

State statistics from Mount Pleasant, Central, Tolman and West Warwick also supported the Johns Hopkins findings that fewer than 60 percent of students were retained until senior year.

Reported graduation rates at the five schools were higher. In 2006, Johnston reported an 83-percent graduation rate; West Warwick, 81 percent; Tolman, 76 percent; Central, 64 percent; and Mount Pleasant, 60 percent. State education officials say that graduation rates are computed differently, including not penalizing a school for students who transfer to other schools and are accounted for.

Johnston Supt. Margaret Iacovelli linked the poor retention data to the fact the high school was placed on probation by the regional accrediting agency in 2000.

Some parents decided to transfer their children to parochial schools, Iocavelli said. Some struggling freshmen transferred to a vocational school in Cranston for their sophomore year. Others were held back, usually because they struggled with algebra.

Johnston is now doing more to help such students, Iacovelli said, noting the new “Segue to Success” program for students who struggle to keep up with the demands of high school courses. She also questions the records that the school kept several years ago, and says the enrollment, retention and graduation data that is gathered now is more precise.

“We had such a difficult time keeping records and tracking students back then,” Iacovelli said. “When you have different people reporting and you don’t have any consistency, you have discrepancies.”

IN RHODE ISLAND, 2,000 students a year drop out, a decision that increases the likelihood they will end up in low-paying jobs, unemployed or in prison, educators say. Statewide, just 72 percent of students complete high school in four years, a figure that drops dramatically in urban districts, where only half graduate.

In an effort to encourage students to stay in school and provide more support to struggling students, the state enacted a law last spring making it harder for students under age 18 to drop out. Students who are 16 and 17 must bring their parent to a meeting with school administrators and sign a form before leaving school.

Schools with high dropout rates are also required to offer more reading and math support to struggling students, as failing ninth-grade math is a trigger for dropping out, said Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, D-Warwick, who sponsored the bill.

For the past three years, the state Education Department has assigned a number to each public school student in grades kindergarten through 12 to track their progress. Later this month, education officials plan to release graduation data for the Class of 2007, which they say will be the most accurate to date.

“Where before some schools would classify a missing student as ‘other’ or ‘unknown,’ now the department is saying that’s not good enough. If you can’t account for where the student is, the student counts as a dropout,” Krieger said. “So the system is getting better.”

To find information on how states fared in the study, visit: http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/wdc/dropout/index.html

For more on the methodology and data used in the analysis, visit: http://web.jhu.edu/csos

jjordan@projo.com