Question: Dropouts. Some people are concerned that new tougher standards and high-stakes tests adopted in many states may drive up the high-school dropout rate. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that the high school dropout rate for the year 2004 was 10.3%. One school district whose dropout rate has always been very close to the national average reports that 210 of their 1782 high-school students dropped out last year. Is their experience evidence that the dropout rate may be increasing? Explain.