Report questions graduation rates
09/07 -- A new report on high school graduation rates says state goals are “woefully low” and do not ensure equal access to low-income and minority students.
Graduation Matters: Improving Accountability for High School Graduation, issued by the Washington, D.C.-based Education Trust, is designed to get Congress’ attention during the No Child Left Behind reauthorization. The report says NCLB fails to address high school reform because states have “unfettered discretion in setting their graduation-rate goals and improvement targets.”
Daria Hall, Education Trust’s assistant director for K-12 policy, said states are failing to set graduation rate goals that ensure low-income and minority students, students with disabilities, and English language learners graduate.
Hall said a number of states have set graduation rate goals of 60 percent or lower, with any improvement meeting the standard for adequate yearly progress.
“Because current graduation rates are so low,” Hall said in a statement, “we need targets that provoke action on behalf of students, not ones that condone the status quo.”
The report has received support from some members of Congress. Reps. Mike Castle (R-Del.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) introduced legislation with recommendations that mirror those in the report. Rep. George Miller, the California Democrat who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, said graduation rates will be a large part of the NCLB reauthorization.
Michael A. Resnick, NSBA’s associate executive director for advocacy and issues management, said the variance in graduation rates from state to state “may or may not be due to the quality of the schools.”
“Formulas for calculating graduation rates differ from state to state so they cannot be compared,” Resnick said. “Moreover, some formulas inflate the true picture of high school graduation by limiting the pool of potential graduates, while others deflate it by not including some students who earn standard diplomas in more than four years.”
For example, Resnick said, Massachusetts reports disaggregated graduation rates, the percentage of dropouts, students still in school, and students who receive general equivalency diplomas (GEDs). This approach, he said, presents a more complete picture of how students are moving through high school.
“State goals for improving the number of high school graduates should aim high, but they should also be based on good data about high school completion,” he said.
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