Using a new formula, graduation rates for area schools dropped in revised figures released by the Georgia Department of Education on Tuesday.
For years, Georgia has been using a formula to determine graduation rates that some critics have said doesn’t fairly reflect all dropout students. That formula — called the leaver rate — included students who took more than four years to earn a high school diploma.
But the new formula — called the cohort rate — is calculated based on the number of students who graduate within four years and includes adjustments for student transfers. The cohort is based on when a student first becomes a freshman and earns a high school diploma.
Basically, the revised 2011 graduation rates released this week don’t show any changes in the percentage of students finishing high school — just a new method in calculating graduation rates.
“The new formula provides a more accurate, uniform look at how many students we are graduating from high school,” said state school superintendent John Barge in a statement. “I believe that in order to tackle a problem you have to have honest and accurate data. We will be able to use this new data as a baseline to see how our important initiatives are impacting graduation rates in the future. We’ve known for some time and communicated that this new formula would show a lower graduation rate than the rate under the previous formula; however, regardless of calculation formula, the state has significantly raised graduation rates over the last several years, but there is still much work to do.”
Just like high schools across Georgia, local schools have pushed in recent years to improve their graduation rates — as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
That’s especially evident at Jackson County Comprehensive High School — where the graduation rate has risen from 69 percent in 2008 to 85.3 percent in 2011, based on the leaver rate.
But under the new “four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate,” JCCHS’ graduation rate for 2011 now stands at 77.78 percent.
Last school year marked the first, official graduation rate for East Jackson Comprehensive High School — which opened in 2007. Under the old formula, that school’s graduation rate was 81.9 percent, but the new calculation places that figure at 71.0 percent.
Jefferson and Commerce high schools both saw relatively little change in their revised 2011 graduation rates, compared to some schools in Georgia.
Commerce High School’s graduation rate fell from 87 percent under the old formula to 85.58 percent under the new calculation for 2011, while Jefferson High School’s graduation rate dropped from 92.2 percent to 90.11 percent. Overall, JHS continues to have one of the best graduation rates in Georgia.
However, other high schools near Jackson County saw a significant drop in their revised graduation rates.
In Barrow County, Apalachee High School’s graduation rate fell from 77 percent under the leaver rate to 65.48 percent with the cohort rate. Winder-Barrow High School’s graduation rate dropped from 76.4 percent under the old formula to 65.43 with the new calculation.
In the past, states have used various methods to determine their graduation rates. The new calculation with the cohort rate means that the graduation rate may appear dramatically different, even if the number of students who actually graduate hasn’t changed. The new method also allows states to compare their graduation rates based on apples-to-apples.
“It’s important that it gets out that these drops aren’t the result of a state doing worse. Now we have an accurate picture,” said Tara N. Tucci, senior research and policy associate at the Washington-based advocacy group Alliance for Excellent Education, in a statement.
Over the past five years, the state’s traditional graduation rate has gradually increased, rising from 70.8 percent in 2006 to 80.9 percent in 2011.
The new rate, which also includes subgroups, will be used for federal accountability purposes this school year. However, Georgia has received approval from the U.S. Department of Education to use a five-year cohort graduation rate for 2012.
“We know that not all students are the same and not all will graduate from high school in four years, so we asked for the U.S. Department of Education’s permission to use a five-year cohort graduation rate for federal accountability purposes,” said Barge. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure each child will graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and a career, regardless of how long it takes.”
