New Calculation Sinks Graduation Rates

In Forsyth County, the five public high schools, as well as Forsyth Academy and iAchieve Virtual Academy, graduated more students in four years than Georgia high schools on average. But with the state's graduation rate, those of local systems and schools fell with a new calculation, including Forsyth County Schools (FCS).

Georgia Department of Education (GDOE) Tuesday released 2011 graduation rates under the new adjusted-cohort method, part of a push for consistent data across the country.

The new, four-year public high school graduation rate in Georgia is 67.4 percent. In Forsyth County, the graduation rate dropped in 2011 to 86.27 percent from 90 percent in 2010.

“On one hand we are pleased at where we rank on the overall list of all districts in Georgia,” said FCS Superintendent Buster Evans in a news release. “We were well aware that the new calculation would have us dropping by about five percentage points, and that did happen. I am also pleased that our percentage of completion is at an even higher level above the state average than under the old rate. I think it is also significant that Forsyth is the largest district by size represented with a completion rate above 80 percent."

According to GDOE, historically, states have calculated graduation rates using varying methods, creating inconsistent data from one state to the next. The new calculation means that the graduation rate may appear dramatically different even if the number of students who actually graduate hasn't changed.

“The new formula provides a more accurate, uniform look at how many students we are graduating from high school,” State School Superintendent John Barge said in a news release. "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."

Forsyth Central High School

"We will spend additional time reviewing the data as well as evaluating how we can use this to both celebrate the success as well as to utilize this as an incentive for greater improvement," said Evans. "While this is a completion rate that we can be proud of, I think it validates why our PROPEL initiative was and is an important focus for the district.”

Momentum for all states to produce a comparable four-year graduation rate began in 2005 with the leadership of the National Governors’ Association. Governors of all 50 states made a commitment to a common method for calculating each state’s high school graduation rate by signing the Graduation Counts Compact.

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.