|
Local graduation rates
slightly above state average
'New York grad rate
ranks tenth in nation’ - Education Week
 JUNE
12, 2012 – The New York State Education Department (SED)
released high school graduation rates on Monday, June 11, for
the 2007 cohort (students who entered 9th grade in 2007). HFM
BOCES component schools averaged a 76.5 percent graduation rate
for that group of students, more than two percentage points
above the state average of 74 percent.
NYSED also released
data that measures how the same group of students is progressing
toward college and career readiness. These numbers were
significantly less than the graduation rates.
Statewide, 30.6
percent of the 2007 cohort graduated with a Regents diploma with
Advanced Designation. HFM component schools averaged 29.3
percent, although some area schools recorded significantly
better results.
NYSED is using the
percent of students who earned a Regents diploma with Advanced
Designation—earned 22 units of course credit, passed 7-9 Regents
exams, and took advanced course sequences in Career and
Technical Education, the arts, or a language other than
English—as an indicator of college and career readiness.
Commissioner John B.
King, Jr. said that New York schools must keep improving
graduation rates to compete in the global market. The numbers
for the 2007 cohort reveal that the state’s overall graduation
rate is slowly improving over time, from 69.3 percent for the
2003 cohort to 73.4 percent for the 2006 cohort.
The graduation rate
is defined as the number of students in a cohort who earned a
Regents or local diploma divided by the total number of students
in that cohort.
The state is
implementing Common Core Learning Standards and new curricula to
help combat the high number of graduates that require
remediation (extra help to equip new students to complete
college-level assignments) when they enter college.
“Global competition
demands that we close the achievement gap and make sure students
who do graduate are ready for college and careers,” Commissioner
King said. “But another key is keeping students engaged.
Whatever that engagement takes – advanced math and science,
Career and Technical Education programs, or a humanities focused
course load – we need to make sure all our students are on a
path that prepares them for college and careers after they
graduate from high school."
HFM BOCES District
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Michel has expressed support for a
Board of Regents proposal to create two new pathways to a high
school diploma, allowing either a career and technical program
or a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) emphasis
to be substituted for the global history Regents exam required
for graduation.
“The new pathways
initiative from SED will open multiple doors, equipping many
more students with critical skills – both academic and practical
– that prepare them for the rigors of college and the working
world. It’s a great opportunity for students,” Dr. Michel said.
A recent report,
Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the
High School Dropout Epidemic, found that New York is one of
only two states in the country to have increased graduation
rates by double digits between 2002 and 2009.
In addition, the
just released Diploma Counts report, issued by Education
Week, ranked New York’s graduation rate as tenth in the nation.
The report further found that from 1999-2009, the graduation
rate nationally increased by 6.7%; in New York State, it
increased by 19.9%, the second biggest jump in the country.
|
