Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 24

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EDUCATION WEEK JUNE 5, 2014
I
Diplomas Count > www.edweek.org/go/dc14
By Christopher B. Swanson
Graduation Rate
Breaks 80 Percent
Diplomas Count Switches Calculation Method
S
ince the launch of Diplomas Count
in 2006, a centerpiece of the Education
Week annual report has
been a comprehensive original
analysis investigating high school
graduation rates at the national,
state, and local levels. Over that
period, the report has used a proprietary
method for calculating graduation rates
known as the Cumulative Promotion Index, or
CPI, which I developed in 2003 while working at
the Washington-based Urban Institute.
Like much of the research on graduation rates
conducted during the past decade, Education
Week's work has drawn its raw data from the
Common Core of Data, a census of schools and
districts managed by the U.S. Department of
Education's National Center for Education Statistics.
Unlike others studying graduation, the
Education Week Research Center built the core
of its research program around first calculating
graduation rates for every school district and
then using the local rates to generate results for
the nation, states, and other jurisdictions.
That bottom-up approach is distinctive and
has enabled Education Week to explore subtle
aspects of high school graduation and district
performance. For instance, Diplomas Count has
regularly examined connections between local
conditions and rates of high school completion
and has highlighted school systems nationwide
graduating students at higher-than-expected
rates. Such deep insights have been a powerful
tool for advancing the field's understanding of
the nation's dropout crisis and identifying the
locations-sometimes unexpected-of rapid and
robust progress.
The research center's analytic work using the
Cumulative Promotion Index hinges on being able
to gain access to detailed, district-level diploma
data from the Common Core of Data. Unfortunately,
the release of that federal database has
been significantly delayed, and the information
needed was not available for use in Diplomas
Count 2014.
Instead, this year's report draws on results
from a recently released study from the National
Center for Education Statistics, which presents
national and state graduation rates for the high
school class of 2012. The calculation method used
by NCES-the Averaged Freshman Graduation
Rate-is similar to Education Week's CPI approach,
in that it uses information from the Common
Core of Data, focuses specifically on public
schools, and provides an estimate of the rate at
which students graduate on time from high school
with a regular diploma.
Highest Since the 1960s
According to the federal data, for the first time
in the nation's history, more than eight in 10 students
are completing high school with a diploma.
The national graduation rate for the class of 2012,
calculated using the Averaged Freshman Graduation
method, rose to 81 percent. Two years earlier,
the rate reached 78 percent, toppling the previous
record for graduation, which had stood since the
late 1960s.
Still, in 2012, of an estimated 3.8 million
students who entered 9th grade in fall 2008,
760,000 failed to successfully finish high school
with their entering class. The Education Week
Research Center analysis also finds that students
from historically underserved groups
are disproportionately represented among U.S.
nongraduates. African-American and Latino
students, for example, constitute the majority of
those failing to graduate, although they make up
just 38 percent of the overall student population.
As that finding would suggest, substantial
divides still separate student groups in 2012.
Asian and white students post the highest
graduation rates, at 93 percent and 85 percent,
respectively. By contrast, the share of students
completing high school falls to 76 percent for
Latinos, and 68 percent for African-American
and American Indian students. A 25 percentagepoint
graduation gap separates the highest- and
lowest-performing racial and ethnic groups.
Though smaller, the gender gap-nationally, female
students graduate at a rate 7 percentage
points higher than their male classmates-can
be found in every state and has remained remarkably
resistant to change over the years.
Despite continuing challenges in closing the
graduation gap and eliminating historical disparities,
it should be noted that completion
rates have risen consistently in recent years.
Since 2007, the U.S. graduation rate has gained
7 percentage points, increasing from 74 percent
in 2007 to 81 percent in 2012. Over that
period, rates improved in all but three states:
Michigan and South Dakota held steady, while
Rhode Island lost 2 points. Those national gains
have been driven largely by groups that have
historically lagged behind. Graduation rates for
Latinos have increased by 14 points since 2007,
roughly double the national pace. Improvements
for African-American students have also exceeded
the national average. I
100
GRADUATION RATES ON A STEADY RISE
90
The nation's public school graduation
rate has been increasing steadily for six
consecutive years, according to data from
the U.S. Department of Education. With
the exception of Native Americans, all
major racial and ethnic groups have seen
consistent gains during this period. The
strongest year-over-year improvements were
found for Latinos and African-Americans.
SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics
80
70
60
50
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Note: To estimate graduation rates, this year's Diplomas Count report uses a federal statistic known as the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate, or AFGR. Developed by the National
Center for Education Statistics and first reported in 2006, the AFGR calculates the graduation rate by dividing the number of regular diplomas issued in a given year by the estimated
size of the incoming freshman class four years earlier.
Asian 93%
White: 85%
All Students: 81%
Latino: 76%
American Indian: 68%
Black 68%
Graduation rate (%)
http://www.edweek.org/go/dc14

Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014

Table of Contents
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - Cover1
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - Cover2
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - Table of Contents
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 4
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 5
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 6
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 7
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 8
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 9
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 10
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 11
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 12
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 13
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 14
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 15
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 16
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 17
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 18
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 19
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 20
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 21
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 22
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 23
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 24
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 25
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 26
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - Cover3
Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - Cover4
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