District High School Graduation Rate Continues On Upward Trend
The District of Columbia Class of 2013 graduation rate rose to 64 percent, representing an almost 3 percent statewide increase, compared to the previous four-year cohort from both DC Public Schools (DCPS) and Public Charter Schools (PCS).
For the third consecutive year, the District utilized the Adjusted Cohort Graduated Rate (ACGR), as required by the U.S. Department of Education. Statewide highlights from the 2012-2013 rate include:
- Young men in the District are graduating at a higher rate.
- Specialized education students increased 8 percent.
- Latino students showed significant improvement with 10.3 percent growth.
- For the first time since the District has been using ACGR, Latino and African American students’ graduation rates exceeded 60 percent.
The ACGR assessment method calculates the Class of 2013 as students who were first-time 9th graders in 2009–2010 and compares the Class against the total number of students who graduated on a four-year, on-time schedule in 2012-2013. Students who transferred in or out, obtained a GED, emigrated, passed away, or graduated outside the four-year control period were removed from the equation. The total number of graduates was then divided by the cohort number.
OSSE is scheduled to release the five-year ACGR for the cohort of District students who started high school in school year 2008-09 around January 2014. The five-year graduation rate will not only recognize those students who take longer than four years to get a diploma, but English language learners and special needs students who are on five-year plans.
As OSSE’s work on the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLED) continues, we commit to investigating ways to give local education agencies (LEAs) and District families additional and more robust information on the performance of our students. In the next several weeks, we will engage community stakeholders to discuss additional data analyses and capabilities to further refine our graduation rate model.
