Data for the 2000 and 2001 Cohorts February 2006

Analyses of Cohort Data SED began collecting individual students records in We now have –Data for the 2000 Cohort after five years –Data for the 2001 Cohort after four years The accuracy and completeness of data increases each year

In 2005, we collected more records for students in these cohorts than their ninth-grade BEDS enrollment or the number tested on the grade 8 mathematics assessment Cohort2001 Cohort 2004 STEP2005 STEP Number of Student Records Reported199,312210,159214,494 Number of Cohort Tested in Grade 8198, ,330 First-Time Grade 9 Enrollment (BEDS)203,917207,315

Outcomes After Five Years for the 2000 Cohort Snapshot as of June 30, 2005

2000 Cohort Definition Students who first enrolled in grade 9 during the school year (or were ungraded and reached their seventeenth birthday during those school years) and who were enrolled in a public school in New York State in at least part of the , , , or school years and for whom a district submitted a STEP record in August 2005.

More About This Cohort These students were in seventh grade when New York began testing the higher standards in In Spring 2000, these students took the middle- level ELA and mathematics assessments, ELA assessment performance: 13.4 percent of students statewide—and 23.6 percent of students in New York City—scored at Level 1. Mathematics assessment: 25.1 percent statewide and 44.3 percent in New York City scored at Level 1.

Graduation Rates After Five Years 71 percent earned Regents or local diplomas. Last year, we reported that 67 percent had earned diplomas after four years. We now have records for more students and thus a more accurate picture.

Findings Too few students in this cohort graduated; too many dropped out. Certain groups of students graduated at a lower rate than other groups.

2000 Cohort after Five Years Students in High Need Districts graduated at much lower rates than students in Average and Low Need Districts. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents or Local Diploma IEP Diploma Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City 74, %2.1%12.2%7.4%25.6% Large City 8, %3.4%4.4%14.4%23.0% Urban/Suburban 16, %3.0%4.5%7.4%16.7% Rural High Need 14, %3.8%1.3%4.9%13.4% Average 68, %1.9%1.8%4.2%8.2% Low Need 28, %0.9% 1.5%3.2% Charter Schools %0.0%40.9%0.8%11.8% Total Public 210, %2.1%5.7% 15.3%

2000 Cohort after Five Years Students in New York City were most likely to still be enrolled on June 30, 2005, while students in Large City Districts were most likely to have transferred to GED programs. Very few students outside the urban districts remained enrolled at the end of the fifth year. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents or Local Diploma IEP Diploma Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City 74, %2.1%12.2%7.4%25.6% Large City 8, %3.4%4.4%14.4%23.0% Urban/Suburban 16, %3.0%4.5%7.4%16.7% Rural High Need 14, %3.8%1.3%4.9%13.4% Average 68, %1.9%1.8%4.2%8.2% Low Need 28, %0.9% 1.5%3.2% Charter Schools %0.0%40.9%0.8%11.8% Total Public 210, %2.1%5.7% 15.3%

2000 Cohort after Five Years Even considering only general-education students, students outside New York City were much more likely to graduate and less likely to drop out. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Transfer red to GED Dropped Out New York City68, %0.0%12.1%7.6%25.2% Rest of State117, %0.0%1.6%4.4%8.7% Total Public186, %0.0%5.5%5.6%14.7%

Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City5, %27.1%13.6%5.4%31.2% Rest of State18, %15.6%5.3%6.7%16.4% Total Public23, %18.3%7.3%6.4%19.9% 2000 Cohort after Five Years Fewer than one-quarter of students with disabilities in New York City graduated; in the rest of State, over 50 percent did so. Almost 1/3 of students with disabilities in New York City dropped out.

2000 Cohort after Five Years Statewide, fewer than half of limited English proficient students graduated. LEP students were more likely than other students to earn IEP diplomas. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City9, %4.1%15.9%5.1%34.8% Rest of State2, %1.3%11.1%8.7%22.2% Total Public12, %3.5%14.9%5.8%32.3%

2000 Cohort after Five Years In New York City and Rest of State Districts, limited English proficient students were more likely than other students to be enrolled on June 30, Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City9, %4.1%15.9%5.1%34.8% Rest of State2, %1.3%11.1%8.7%22.2% Total Public12, %3.5%14.9%5.8%32.3%

Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out American Indian/Alaskan Native %3.5%6.3%9.3%24.8% Asian/Pacific Islander 14, %0.7%5.7%3.6%14.3% Black 40, %2.9%11.9%8.4%24.2% Hispanic 34, %2.5%12.2%8.3%27.6% White 120, %1.8%1.7%4.3%8.9% 2000 Cohort after Five Years Blacks and Hispanics were less likely than Whites and Asians to graduate and three times as likely to drop out.

2000 Cohort after Five Years Males were less likely than females to graduate and more likely to drop out. This difference was more pronounced in New York City. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City Female36, %1.7%9.8%6.0%22.4% Male37, %2.4%14.6%8.7%28.7% Rest of State Female66, %1.6% 3.7%8.3% Male69, %2.5% 5.7%11.0% Total Public Female102, %1.6%4.5% 13.3% Male107, %2.5%6.8% 17.2%

Outcomes After Four Years for the 2001 Cohort Snapshot as of June 30, 2005

2001 Cohort Definition Students who first enrolled in grade 9 during the school year (or were ungraded and reached their seventeenth birthday during those school years) and who were enrolled in a public school in New York State in at least part of the , , , or school years and for whom a district submitted a STEP record in August 2005.

More About This Cohort These students were in sixth grade when New York began testing the higher standards in In Spring 2001, these students took the middle- level ELA and mathematics assessments, ELA assessment performance: 13.6 percent of students statewide—and 23.1 percent of students in New York City—scored at Level 1. Mathematics assessment performance: 26.4 percent statewide and 44.2 percent in New York City scored at Level 1.

Findings Fewer students had graduated at the end of Year 4. Certain groups of students graduated at a lower rate than other groups.

2001 Cohort after Four Years Fewer students had graduated or dropped out; more remained in enrolled. New York City students were least likely to have graduated and most likely to remain enrolled. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City73, %1.8%34.9%4.9%15.0% Large City8, %3.2%18.3%11.7%21.5% Urban/Suburban17, %2.7%16.8%8.3%14.5% Rural High Need 14, %3.5%8.1%5.6%12.9% Average70, %1.6%8.9%4.1%7.3% Low Need29, %0.6%5.2%1.5%2.7% Charter Schools %0.0%64.8%1.8%9.1% Total Public214, %1.8%18.4%4.8%10.9%

2001 Cohort after Four Years The majority of students with disabilities have not graduated; particularly in New York City, too many have dropped out. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City7, %17.7%32.0%4.6%28.9% Rest of State19, %13.2%19.3%7.4%15.0% Total Public26, %14.4%22.8%6.6%18.9%

2001 Cohort after Four Years Limited English proficient students were less likely to graduate than any other group and were most likely to remain enrolled at the end of four years. Needs/ Resource Category Cohort Enroll- ment Regents /Local Diploma IEP diploma % Still enrolled Trans- ferred to GED Dropped Out New York City9, %3.6%44.7%3.2%22.6% Rest of State2, %1.1%30.4%6.9%19.2% Total Public12, %3.1%41.4%4.0%21.8%

Regents Examination Results The pattern of results for the 2000 and 2001 Cohort was very similar. The pattern will be illustrated using 2001 cohort results.

2001 Cohort-Regents Examination Performance At the end of four years, students were most successful on the science exams (earth science or living environment), which are generally taken in grade 9. ExaminationNot Tested Percent of All Cohort Members Scoring English21.0%5.0%6.2%67.9% Mathematics20.1%5.7%7.4%66.9% Global History18.7%6.7%6.8%67.7% U.S. History23.6%4.6%6.4%65.3% Science17.4%4.6%5.6%72.3%

2001 Cohort-Regents Examination Performance At the end of four year, students in New York City were less likely to have tested and more likely to have failed or scored ExaminationNot Tested Percent of Cohort Members Scoring English 29.2%8.2%9.7%52.9% Mathematics 29.9%7.6%11.2%51.3% Global History 26.4%11.0%10.0%52.5% U.S. History 34.6%7.6%9.5%48.3% Science 27.2%8.2%9.5%55.1%

2001 Cohort-Regents Examination Performance At the end of four years, about three-quarters of Rest of State students had passed each exam; more than four- fifths had passed a science exam. ExaminationNot Tested Percent of Cohort Members Scoring English 16.7%3.3%4.3%75.7% Mathematics 15.0%4.6%5.4%75.0% Global History 14.7%4.5%5.1%75.7% U.S. History 17.9%3.1%4.8%74.2% Science 12.3%2.8%3.6%81.3%

Regents Diplomas Awarded

The percent of general-education students earning Regents diploma increased from 41 to 60 percent between 1997 and 2004.

The number of Regents diplomas awarded to students with disabilities increased four-fold between 1997 and 2004.

Strategies on High Schools Set targets for high school graduation and measure results. Make local school boards accountable for high school performance. Check teacher qualifications and order changes where necessary to ensure qualified staff. Strengthen teaching through professional development focused on proven curricula and lesson plans. Ensure safety by updating school safety plans. Engage the public and students. Support the highest performers.

Strategies on Students With Disabilities Produce accurate and timely data, set targets for improved outcomes, and increase public awareness of results in order to leverage change. Refocus quality assurance monitoring to hold more schools accountable for improving instructional practice. Focus the work of technical assistance networks with increased accountability for student performance. Increase the supply of qualified personnel in special education shortage areas. Expand the availability of high quality in-State special education options for students with the most severe disabilities.

Strategies on LEP Students Hold districts and schools accountable for meeting targets in English language acquisition. Raise the level of improvement required over time. Increase monitoring to ensure students receive time and services in English and native language instruction. Report results. The Regents will determine consequences for noncompliance. Improve quality of bilingual and ESL teachers through new incentives and expanding professional development. Increase outreach with NYCDOE to provide better information to parents on ESL and bilingual programs that can improve their own levels of reading, writing, and speaking English.