Schools

State Introduces New Calculation for Graduation Rates

Mehlville and Oakville High School's graduation rates for the 2010-2011 school year are slightly lower under the new calculation.

Monday, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released high school graduation rates calculated using a new method.

With the change in the way the rate is calculated, most districts in the state have a lower rate than in the past.

"The U.S. Department of Education is requiring (states) to report the new four-year rate so we can compare how Missouri is doing to our neighbors in Kansas and Illinois," said Leigh Ann Grant-Engle, assistant commissioner for the Office of Data System Management. "It’s another way to help us look at students and see if there's anything we need to do to provide them to help them graduate in four years."

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States are required to report graduation rate data to the U.S. Department of Education under the No Child Left Behind legislation, but in the past, states calculated the rates using different methods.

Now, the U.S. Department of Education is requiring all states to report the "four-year graduation rate" which measures the percent of students who complete high school in four years.

Find out what's happening in Mehlville-Oakvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Students who take longer to graduate or complete a GED aren't counted with their cohort group, and so the district doesn't "get credit" for them.

Currently, Missouri calculates the graduation rate by dividing the number of students who graduated in a given year by the number of graduates plus any dropouts from that class. So this rate would include students who took more than four years to graduate from high school.

Mehlville High School had a 92.8 percent graduation rate in 2010-2011 under the traditional calculation with 465 graduates and 36 dropouts (465/501 = 92.8 percent). However, under the new calculation the four-year graduation rate for 2010-2011 is 91.3, according to DESE.

Oakville High School had a 93.5 graduation rate in 2010-2011 under the traditional calculation with 431 graduates and 30 dropouts (431/461 = 93.5 percent). Under the new calculation, the four-year graduation rate for 2010-2011 is 92.9. 

"We need to be educated on the fact that they're doing it in a much different fashion now. Now the graduation rate is simply going to be how many students complete and graduate from a traditional four-year program in four years," said Mehlville Superintendent Eric Knost at .

Knost addressed the board and warned them the difference in numbers could be a shock. The new formula does not account for credit-recovery programs, alternative programs or students who take an extra semester. 

The four-year graduation rate for Missouri was 79.8 percent in the 2010-11 school year under the new calculation method.

Moving to a uniform calculation method allows states to be compared to one another more easily.

In a press release, the U.S. Department of Education calls the new calculation rate "more accurate" because it accounts for students who drop out or don't graduate in four years.

Grant-Engle, however, suggested that the new rate is not a "correction" of the old rate, adding that it's not appropriate to compare the two numbers. For now, the state intends to publish both rates.

"I believe they are just two different rates," she said. "There are many students that it's appropriate for them to take longer than four years to graduate. I do think (the new rate) is an important rate because it allows us to compare to other states accurately."

The new calculation may help state and district leaders understand characteristics of students who may take longer than four years to graduate.

"It's another way to look at students and see if there is anything we need to provide them to help them graduate in four years," Grant-Engle said.

New "Four Year Graduation Rate" Calculation:

(Graduates / Total number of students in 9th Grade Cohort Group including transfers in, excluding transfers out) x 100

Old Calculation:

(Graduates / (9-12 Cohort Dropouts + Graduates)) x 100


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