How Does Oregon Report Graduation Rates? Cohort Graduation Rate This year’s release reports on graduation rates for students who first entered high school in (for the 4-year rate) and (for the 5-year rate).

How Does the Cohort Rate Work? Follows a group (or cohort) of students throughout high school – adjusted for students who move in and out of the system Students who receive a modified diploma, GED, adult high school diploma, or alternative certificate are counted as non-graduates Schools may meet graduation requirements by either: Graduating 65% of students within 4 years Graduating 70% of students within 5 years

How is the Cohort Rate Calculated? Four-year cohort graduation rate = number of students in the adjusted cohort that earn a regular high school diploma by August 2010 ___________________________________________________ Number of first-time 9 th graders in adjusted for transfers in and out Five-year cohort graduation rate = number of students in the adjusted cohort that earn a regular high school diploma by August 2010 ___________________________________________________ Number of first-time 9 th graders in adjusted for transfers in and out

Why Do We Look At Graduation Rates This Way? In the past, Oregon used a different calculation to determine graduation rates. Last year, we transitioned from that previous rate (NCES) to the Cohort Rate. Reasons for the change: Federal requirement for all states starting with AYP report A more uniform and accurate measure of high school graduation Allows us to clearly see where each student is ending up after 4 and 5 years in high school

Comparing to Other States Can Oregon’s cohort rate be compared to other state’s graduations rate? Not this year as states are still in various stages of implementation e.g. some states do not currently require their special education students to meet cohort graduation targets Next year, the cohort graduation rate will be the common standard used by every state and there will be a higher degree of comparability.

Cohort Graduation Rates Embargoed until Tuesday, April 26, 9 AM Student Group4 year rate ( cohort)5 year rate ( cohort) All Students66.4%69.1% White69.9%72.4% Asian76.1%80.7% Black49.8%52.6% Hispanic55.2%57.6% Native American50.3%55.4% Students with Disabilities41.8%46.7% English Language Learner49.7%57.2% Economically Disadvantaged59.8%62.6% Females70.8%72.5% Males62.3%66.1%

Dropout Rates The dropout rate is the number of students who drop out of school (grades 9-12) in a given year divided by the total number of students enrolled that year A dropout is defined as an individual who has withdrawn from school and has not received a regular diploma, modified diploma, extended diploma, adult high school diploma, alternative certificate, or GED Students who are deceased, in home school, enrolled in an approved alternative education program, or temporarily absent from school are not considered dropouts

The dropout rate is not the inverse of the graduation rate In addition to graduates and dropouts, the cohort includes information on “other completers.” These are students who: received a GED, a modified diploma or alternative certificate, an adult high school diploma from a community college, are enrolled in an alternative school, or are still enrolled and taking longer than four years (or longer than 5 years in the case of the 5-year rate) to graduate. “Other Completers” are not counted as a graduates and do lower the graduation rate, but they are not dropouts.

Dropout Rate Embargoed until Tuesday, April 26, 9 AM Student Groups All Students3.4% White2.9% Asian1.4%2.4% Black6.2%6.1% Hispanic4.7%5.1% Native American6.7%6.4% Students with Disabilities4.6%3.7% English Language Learner5.9%6.2% Economically Disadvantaged2.8%3.1% Females2.9%3.1% Males3.8%3.7%

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