New Calculations Sink Roswell Graduation Rates

Adhering to a 2008 update to federal education regulations, the Georgia Department of Education recently released the new, four-year public high school graduation rate for Fulton County - 70.05 percent.

In Roswell those numbers break down to a 68.55 percent graduation rate for and a 74.70 precent rate for . The new calculations, known as the adjusted cohort rate, are slightly higher than the new Georgia state average of 67.4 percent. 

In comparison, the state's 2011 AYP graduation rate was 80.9. Roswell High School - which has a 2011 graduation class size of 561 - was 88.2 percent; and at Centennial High School - which has a graduation class size of 447 - it was 87.2 percent.

“The new formula provides a more accurate, uniform look at how many students we are graduating from high school,” said State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. "I believe that in order to tackle a problem you have to have honest and accurate data. We will be able to use this new data as a baseline to see how our important initiatives are impacting graduation rates in the future. We’ve known for some time and communicated that this new formula would show a lower graduation rate than the rate under the previous formula; however, regardless of calculation formula, the state has significantly raised graduation rates over the last several years, but there is still much work to do."

Historically, states have calculated graduation rates using varying methods, creating inconsistent data from one state to the next. The cohort rate will allow states to uniformly compare graduation rates across the nation. But it also means the graduation rate may appear dramatically different from previous Georgia standards, even if the number of students who actually graduate hasn't changed.

The primary difference in calculating the new graduation rate from the state’s current method is in the definition of the cohort.

The new “four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate” defines the cohort based on when a student first becomes a freshman. The rate is calculated using the number of students who graduate within four years and includes adjustments for student transfers.

Tara N. Tucci, a senior research and policy associate at the Washington-based advocacy group Alliance for Excellent Education, said, “It's important that it gets out that these drops aren't the result of a state doing worse. Now we have an accurate picture."

Georgia’s previous graduation rate calculation defines the cohort upon graduation, which may include students who take more than four years to graduate from high school. Over the past five years, the state’s traditional graduation rate has gradually increased, rising from 70.8 percent in 2006 to 80.9 percent in 2011.

The new rate, which also includes subgroups, will be used for federal accountability purposes this school year. However, Georgia has received approval from the U.S. Department of Education to use a five-year cohort graduation rate for 2012.

“We know that not all students are the same and not all will graduate from high school in four years, so we asked for the U.S. Department of Education’s permission to use a five-year cohort graduation rate for federal accountability purposes,” said Barge. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure each child will graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and a career, regardless of how long it takes.”

Editor's Note: Click here for the 2011 Cohort Graduation Rate (school-level report). Download the PDF file, above right, of the 2011 AYP Graduation Rate.