How Are We Doing? 2010-11 Washington Graduation Statistics Deb Came GATE Advisory Meeting June 5, 2012

Graduation Rates Estimated Cohort (traditional method) On-time Extended 2010-11 school year 75.0% 81.0% 2009-10 school year 76.5% 82.6%   Adjusted cohort (new calculation) 4-Year Actual Adjusted 5-Year Actual Class of 2011 76.6% n/a Class of 2010 75.4% 78.2%

Different Methodologies 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 9 10 11 12 Traditional Method Cohort (new) Method

Comparison of Methods Estimated Cohort (old method) Adjusted Cohort (new method)  Is a composite cohort. Uses dropout rates for all grades within one school year to determine an estimate of the number of students graduating. Is an actual cohort. Individuals are tracked over 4 years with adjustments made for transfers in/out. Allows for alternate expected graduation year for students in special education or ELL programs.   Imposes concept of four-year timespan. There are no adjustments for Special Ed or Limited English students who are expected to take longer. May adjust for deficient credits. All students are expected to graduate four years after first entering 9th grade. Transfers from out of state or other districts who are credit deficient may not be reclassified into a lower grade. The new method generally aligns with what most people think of as a graduation rate: among a group of students who started high school together, how many graduated in four (or five) years? The old method may have benefited districts that assigned grade level by credit: The rate applied dropouts from all grades to that year’s 12th grade enrollment. 9th – 11th grades would increase in size because students would remain in lower grades if they were credit deficient. Thus the dropout rates for those grades would be lower. Lower dropout rates across grades leads to a higher graduation rate. 12th grade would be smaller because students remained in lower grades. A smaller denominator with the same number of graduates leads to a higher graduation rate. The old method is a composite cohort and thus would reflect the most recent year’s dropout improvements in lower grades. The new method takes time to reflect improvements in a given cohort.

Grad Rates by Ethnicity / Race Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Method

Grad Rates by Subgroup Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Method

Districts with Lowest Grad Rate (N>=30) Graduation Rate (2011 4-Year Adjusted Cohort) 9th Grade Entering Cohort N Aberdeen 55.3 303 Mount Adams 58.1 77 Monroe 60.6 533 Concrete 60.7 67 Tacoma 61.6 2322 Highline 62.3 1516 Cle Elum-Roslyn 88 Shelton 62.9 460 Tukwila 63.3 264 Centralia 63.7 284 Grand Coulee Dam 64.0 63 Raymond 64.3 43

Districts with Highest Grad Rate (N>=30) Graduation Rate (2011 4-Year Adjusted Cohort) 9th Grade Entering Cohort N Hockinson 97.9 176 Asotin-Anatone 49 Zillah 96.8 109 Waitsburg 96.7 33 Pe Ell 96.4 36 Montesano 95.8 120 Kalama 84 Adna 94.6 50 Mercer Island 94.3 350 White Pass 93.9 41 Lake Washington 1819 North Franklin 93.6 131

Contact Deb Came, Ph.D. Director, Student Information, OSPI deb.came@k12.wa.us (360) 725-6356 Lisa Ireland Research Analyst, Student Information, OSPI lisa.ireland@k12.wa.us (360) 725-6358