[Youth-list] Another on local graduation rates

[JMRab at aol.com]

     (http://www.nhregister.com/site/News.cfm?brd=1281)       06/04/2007  
Graduation  rates inflated, study says   Maria  Garriga , Register Staff 
NEW HAVEN — A national education  research group has issued a report claiming 
graduation rates in  Connecticut and the nation have been grossly inflated by 
 under-counting dropouts. 
The report was issued by the  Editorial Projects in Education Research 
Center, an arm of Education  Week, a national publication that covers the education  
sector.


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(http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/redirect.cfm?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=791&BRD=1281) A  spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell said the state plans to change the 
 way it calculates graduation rates this fall as part of a national  effort 
to increase accuracy in tracking graduation data.

Both  the state and the Education Research Center used information from  
federal Department of Education Common Core of Data, but the state  calculation 
uses dropout rates to calculate graduation rates. The  research center used a 
cumulative promotion index which measures  graduation by diploma counts and by 
averaging promotions from ninth  to 12th grade in a four-year period. 

Tom Murphy, a spokesman  for the state Department of Education, called the 
center's measure  flawed because it does not count students who transfer to 
other  schools as graduates. Murphy said the state's graduation rates are  more 
accurate than the think tank's estimate because the state  includes students who 
transfer, who finish their education through  alternative means or who take 
longer than four years to finish high  school.

"We stand by our numbers, but there is room for  improvement," Murphy said. 

By conventional wisdom, a senior  class of 200 with a graduation rate of 90 
percent would translate  into 180 graduates, but that is not the case. 

Many students  who transfer or withdraw to attend adult education classes, or 
take  more than four years to finish high school, or even incarcerated do  
not get counted as dropouts.

Using a different calculation  method, the center reported that West Haven's 
graduation rate is  closer to 51.1 percent than 93.4 percent, a gap of 40 
percent, for  the class of 2003, giving West Haven the largest reported gap in  
Connecticut.

"The beauty of West Haven is that we have  alternative plans for students to 
graduate. We have 47 languages  spoken in West Haven, (and) some students need 
more time than others  to graduate," said JoAnn Andrees, West Haven's new 
superintendent,  who said she had not yet seen the report.

The report, called  "Project Graduation," listed Wallingford as achieving an 
80.4  percent graduation rate instead of the state reported rate of 96.8  
percent. Derby had a 68.4 percent graduation rate instead of the  state reported 
83.9 percent.

"Project Graduation" claims  numerous districts in southcentral Connecticut 
as having inflated  graduation rates based on its calculation: New Haven had a 
65.1  percent graduation rate instead of the reported 77 percent; East  Haven 
had an 82 percent graduation rate, instead of 94 percent; and  North Branford 
had a graduation rate of 86.7 percent, instead of  96.6 percent. 

Educators protested any charges of grade  inflation.

"Leave the educators alone, I think we have been  trained well. Educators in 
general know what they are doing," said  Al Martorella, assistant 
superintendent in East Haven. "Not all kids  are equal. In my mind, we've raised the bar 
so high that we have  trouble getting over it."

"You could use a variety of  definitions as long as you use the same one over 
different  populations," said Ansonia's Acting Superintendent of Schools Anne 
 Giddings.

"Project Graduation" reported that Ansonia had a  small reporting 
discrepancy. The center calculated a 76.4 percent  graduation rate, less than 5 percent 
off from the official rate of  81.3 percent.

Education advocates say educators need to  rethink the way they calculate 
graduation rates.

Marc Porter  Magee, research director for ConnCan, said the state method for  
calculating dropouts fails to capture many students who drop out in  ninth 
and 10th grades. He said more accurate data collection on  graduation rates 
would give educators better tools. 

Magee  agreed with Murphy's claim that the cumulative promotion index is  
flawed, but said it captures more accurate information that the  existing method.

 
____________________________________
Maria Garriga can be reached at _mgarriga at nhregister.com_ (mailto: 
mgarriga at nhregister.com)   or  789-5726.
******************************************************************************
To see the actual study and mapping tool,  go to -- 
_www2.edweek.org/rc/articles/2007/04/25/map.html_ 
(http://www2.edweek.org/rc/articles/2007/04/25/map.html)  

You can read an interesting  question and answer exchange on this topic at -- 
_www.edweek.org/chat/transcript_07_06_06.html?qs=Graduation+Rates_ 
(http://www.edweek.org/chat/transcript_07_06_06.html?qs=Graduation+Rates)  
Also, CT's SDE is now revising its draft  High School Redesign policy. For 
more information on this critical  proposal, contact Frances Rabinowitz at -- 
_Frances.Rabinowitz at ct.gov_ (mailto:Frances.Rabinowitz at ct.gov)  
JMG   (http://adserver1.journalregister.com/adclick.php?n=a405a0e4)  
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