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Building a Grad Nation Webinar Speakers
John BridgelandPresident &
CEOCivic
Jennifer DePaoliSenior Education
AdvisorCivic
Robert BalfanzDirector
Everyone Graduates Center
Tanya TuckerVice President
America’s Promise Alliance
3
Building a Grad NationAnnual Update 2016Progress and Challenge in Raising High School Graduation Rates
National Equity Path to 90
Student Demographics in Large, Low-Graduation-Rate High Schools*
*Enrolling 300 or more students
Low-Graduation-Rate High Schools
To keep in line with ESSA, we are moving from looking solely at the large high schools (300 or more students) producing significant numbers of non-graduates to further examining the high schools enrolling 100 or more students that reported an ACGR of 67 percent or less.
In this year’s report, we identify the high schools with persistently low graduation rates and follow the evidence to examine where these schools are and what types of schools fall into this category.
Low-Graduation-Rate Schools
When examining low-graduation-rate high schools by type: 41 percent are regular district schools 28 percent are alternative schools 26 percent are charter schools 7 percent are virtual schools
To break it down further: When removing alternative charter and alternative virtual from the
alternative school category (10 and 2 percent of these schools, respectively), 23 percent of all low-graduation-rate high schools were alternative schools (district-operated).
When separating brick-and-mortar charter schools from virtual charter schools, brick-and-mortar charter schools make up 22 percent of low-graduation-rate schools.
This allows us to focus more intently on the schools that make up large percentages in each school type category.
School Type is taken as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in their Common Core of Data (CCD) and defines four types of schools: Regular, Special Education; Vocational; and Alternative. Independently from those four school types, NCES also release two separate and independent variables that denote schools’ Charter and Virtual school status, respectively. For the table above, we have expanded the NCES/CCD Virtual school variable to include any school whose name includes the words: Cyber; Virtual; Digital; or Online/On-line). Also for the table above, any Regular/Special Education/Vocational/Alternative/Charter school that is designated as a Virtual school is counted only as a Virtual School, and similarly any Regular/Special Education/Vocational/Alternative school that is designated as a Charter school is counted only as a Charter school, so that the six categories taken together are both mutually exclusive of each other as well as jointly exhaustive.
Breaking it down by School Type
Key Takeaways There is great variation across states in the number and percentage of low-graduation-rate high schools, as well as the types of schools that have low-graduation-rates and are producing significant numbers of non-graduates.
Students who have fallen off track need more than quick credit recovery; they need the things that make all students successful: to be able to build positive relationships with caring adults, strong and
tailored instruction opportunities to engage in learning experiences that connect school to life
beyond the support and resources to help them figure out what they want to do once
they have earned their diploma. These should be at the core of any “alternative” school or program if they are
to meet the needs of the students they serve.
Setting the Record Straight on High School Graduation Rates• Graduation rates rose most rapidly between 2006 and 2014, when states were increasing graduation requirements.•More students than ever are taking the ACT (40% of graduates in 2005 vs 59% of graduates in 2015).• ACT scores have flat-lined in recent years, but this stagnation
may be due to more students who would have previously dropped out taking the exam.
• The number of students taking AP courses has risen from about 550,000 in 2004 to more than one million in 2013. The number of students passing at least one AP exam has also risen, from roughly 350,000 in 2004 to more than 600,000 in 2013.
Setting the Record Straight on High School Graduation Rates• 50 ways to leave your cohort?• To help address issues about whether the steady rise in
graduation rates is real, we examined:• ACGR cohorts for the classes of 2011 and 2014 for all 50 states, as well as
the size of their actual 9th grade enrollments in 2007-08 and 2010-11 – the years in which those two cohorts entered 9th grade.
• This allowed us to determine if substantial numbers of students were being removed from their cohort over a four-year period.
• Our analysis comparing student enrollment totals and graduating cohort counts shows that in nearly all states, state reporting of graduation rate data is aligned with enrollment data, and thus, at the state level, reported graduation gains cannot be attributed to states inappropriately removing students from their cohorts.
• Further analysis needs to be done to determine if this is happening at the school- or district-level.
Extended-Year Graduation Rates
Five-year graduation rates were available for 31 states, across 73 graduating cohorts over four years. On average, five-year rates led to a 3 percent increase in
overall graduation rates.
Six-year graduation rates were available for 23 graduating cohorts in 13 states. Six-year grad rates showed an average gain of one percent.
When factoring in 5- and 6-year graduation rates, the national graduation rate would be closer to 86-87%.
Policy Recommendations• Set clear definitions and give graduation rates the weight they deserve in ESSA.•Get the cohort rate right.• Create evidence-based plans to improve low-graduation-rate high schools.•Require the reporting of extended-year graduation rates in addition to four-year graduation rates.•Ensure alternative, charter, and virtual schools are included in state accountability and improvement systems.•Provide real pathways for re-engagement.
To download the Building a Grad Nation 2016 Annual Report and find your state graduation progress report, please visit:
www.GradNation.org/2016Report
