Statewide high school graduation rates released; 76.5% earn diplomas

Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed released Tuesday the official state and local high school graduation rates for 2006. The final data confirms that about threequarters (76.5 percent) of eligible Indiana students earned a high school diploma in 2006 – with more than half of schools (56.2 percent) graduating greater than 80 percent of their students.

“The recent public scrutiny on high school graduation rates was a critical first step in understanding Indiana’s dropout problem,” Reed said. “Now the challenge is for local communities to place the same degree of attention on ensuring not only that all students graduate, but that they receive the essential foundation Indiana’s high school diploma represents.”

Though the majority (66 percent) of schools met or exceeded the state graduation rate in 2006, rates varied significantly from school to school statewide. Two Indiana high schools (Medora Jr./Sr. High School and New Harmony High School) showed a 100 percent graduation rate, while 42 schools were above 90 percent and 159 schools topped 80 percent. In contrast, 15 high schools graduated less than half of their senior classes in 2006.

Local results

For schools serving Carroll County students, the graduation rate was:

Carroll Jr.-Sr. High School – 86.8% with 3.3% still in school, 6.6% dropouts/undetermined, and 3.3% special education certificate.

Delphi Community High School – 84.7% with 6.9% still in school, 6.3% dropouts/undetermined, 1.4% special education certificate, and .7% GED.

Rossville Middle/High School – 84.1% with 3.7% still in school, 6.1% dropouts/undetermined, 1.2% course completion, and 4.9% GED.

Twin Lakes High School – 67.5% with 7.5% still in school, 14% dropouts/undetermined, 5% course completion, .5% special education certificate, and 5.5% GED.

State breakdown

The 2006 public high school graduation rate breakdown for all schools was: • 100 percent – 2 schools (0.6%) • 90-99.9 percent – 42 schools (11.6%) • 80-89.9 percent – 159 schools (44.0%) • 70-79.9 percent – 98 schools (27.1%) • 60-69.9 percent – 34 schools (9.4%) • 50-59.9 percent – 11 schools (3.0%) • Less than 50 percent – 15 schools (4.2%)

Preventing dropouts

Noting that several state initiatives are already underway to assist schools in raising graduation rates, Reed urged local communities to look beyond the overall rate to see where the underlying problems lie and to determine how these areas can best be addressed. Of the 23.5 percent of students who did not graduate in 2006, 11.2 percent were either reported dropouts or undetermined, which generally means that they either moved out of state or dropped out without formally withdrawing from school. As required by state law, the “non-graduate” category also includes students who earned a General Equivalency Diploma (3.2 percent), a special education certificate (1.1 percent), a nondiploma course completion certificate (0.7 percent) or are still enrolled in school (7.4 percent).

The final state data confirmed what preliminary results suggested: Limited English Proficient, African American, Hispanic and students from lowincome families are significantly less likely to graduate than their peers. As expected, schools with

higher percentages of these student populations showed lower graduation rates statewide.

“A high school with even one dropout has room for improvement, but clearly some Indiana schools face a far greater challenge than others,” Reed said. “We remain committed to working with local schools to find targeted solutions that address the unique issues and circumstances in communities across the state.”

State initiatives

Several state initiatives are working to support local efforts to improve graduation rates and prevent dropouts, including: • Dropout Prevention Legislation – Recent legislation passed by the General Assembly raised the dropout age to 18, required reporting of early warning indicators linked to high school dropouts and established School Flex and Fast Track programs to provide students with more options for earning a diploma. • High School Dropout Prevention Taskforce – Led by Indiana Department of Education’s new High School Redesign Coordinator, this broad-based group is working to identify promising policies and procedures, successful school models and effective interventions. Actions include data analysis and identification of highand low-performing high schools; meeting with low-performing schools and linking similar schools; analyzing rules and regulations that might help or hinder dropout prevention efforts; and conducting a needs assessment review of resources and best practices in dropout prevention. • Dropout Recovery Project – Established in 1991, this project links student dropouts with adult education services provided by IDOE, Ivy Tech Community College, AFL/CIO Job Corps, Indiana school corporations, and other participating organizations. The state conservatively

estimates that more than 100,000 students have been contacted through the program over the last 15 years. • Indiana High School Summit – Annual statewide summit sponsored by Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) promotes innovative high school reforms focused on three “R’s” of high school redesign: Rigor, Relevance and Relationships. In addition, IDOE works with the Center of Excellence and Leadership of Learning (CELL) to engage education professionals and community leaders in supporting high school redesign and improvement. • Strategic Planning Initiative – Announced in October 2006, IDOE’s plan for realigning efforts and resources to better support schools contains several upcoming actions that will support dropout prevention and high school redesign initiatives, including the creation of an Office of Best Practices and implementing an enhanced data warehouse system.

The Class of 2006 is the first group of Hoosier students that could be followed using a new state formula for calculating graduation rates. Adopted by the Indiana General Assembly in 2003, the new formula for calculating graduation rates begins by establishing a cohort (or class) of first-time freshmen that expands and contracts as students transfer in and out of school during the years that follow. This precise measure is made possible using unique student identification numbers to track each student’s progress since entering high school in 2002. The four years of data needed for the new rate first became available with the 2005- 2006 school year, making Indiana among the first states in the nation to calculate graduation rates based on student-level information.

For more information on Indiana’s graduation rate, visit www.doe.state.in.us/gradrate.