Wake near top of state in new graduation rate
February 28, 2007 – The 82.6 percent graduation rate for the Wake County Public School System is one of the highest graduation rates among North Carolina school districts and higher than the state’s other large urban districts.WCPSS Evaluation and Research Department ReportHigh School Graduation Rates: 2005-06 |
The four-year graduation rate is a new calculation added to the 2005-06 NC School Report Cards as part of the measurement of Annual Yearly Progress required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
“The new graduation rate is a baseline that provides a starting point to map our progress as our high schools focus more on the needs of each student,” said WCPSS Chief Academic Officer Donna Hargens. “We’re pleased with the great success this rate reflects, but we will continue to work to meet the needs of all students.”
The graduation rate is the percentage of students entering the ninth grade for the first time during the 2002-03 school year who earned a diploma by the spring of 2006. State standards for the rate include detailed rules for counting students that move in and out of schools during the four years.
Prior to 2005-06, state graduation data calculated the number of graduates in a particular year who had completed graduation requirements in four years or less.
WCPSS Compared to State
The WCPSS graduation rate of 82.6 percent compares with the state average of 68.1 percent.
The WCPSS graduation rate of 82.6 percent is higher than the state’s other large urban districts. The graduation rate is 74.6 percent for Mecklenburg; 73.7 percent for Forsyth; 68.8 percent for Durham; and 63.5 percent for Guilford.
The rate is largely consistent with previous studies of the WCPSS graduation rate. The national education journal Education Week last year reported the Wake County Public School System had the second highest graduation rate among the nation’s 50 largest urban school districts, estimating it at 82 percent. An earlier study conducted by the WCPSS Evaluation and Research Department on the incoming ninth grade class in 1998-99 had calculated this rate to be approximately 80 percent for that cohort.
Graduation Rates for 13 WCPSS Schools above 80 percent
Three WCPSS high schools have rates above 90 percent. Leesville Road High had the highest graduation rate of WCPSS high schools at 90.6 percent. Green Hope High had a rate of 90.3 percent and Enloe High had a rate of 90.1 percent.
Ten other WCPSS schools had graduation rates above 80 percent. Apex High and Southeast Raleigh High had graduation rates of 89.3 percent. Middle Creek High’s rate was 88.9 percent and Broughton High’s rate was 88.8 percent.
This year’s report on graduation rates counts 18 WCPSS high schools, including two alternative schools – Phillips High and Longview School. Rates are not calculated for high schools that did not operate a ninth grade in 2002-03, such as Holly Springs, Knightdale, Panther Creek and Wake Early College of Health and Sciences.
Schools Work to Increase the Graduation Rate
WCPSS has taken a number of steps to increase the opportunities for students to receive the help they may need to graduate by offering the block schedule, easing the ninth-grade transition, personalizing school and increasing attention to data.
The block schedule adopted by most WCPSS high schools provides students the option to take 32 classes over a four-year high school career giving students more time and opportunities to recover if they have difficulty passing a course. High schools have worked to ease the ninth grade transition providing freshman camps and freshman seminars to get students off to a good start. WCPSS high school faculty and staff have worked to personalize the high school experience, so every student is known and adults can offer advice to keep students on track academically. By creating formative assessments such as blue diamond computerized testing, middle and high schools will know better what students are learning so that students may receive additional instruction when required.
At Leesville Road High, there has been an emphasis put on reading school-wide in the past two years. Dr. Stephen Gainey, Leesville’s principal, says the school has worked to provide students remediation opportunities during the school day.
At Apex High, Principal Matt Wight says his focus is on retaining and supporting teachers. Wight says teachers are working together and improving their practices to better serve students through professional learning communities, improved lesson planning and using assessments that provide data on which students need what type of instruction.
At Southeast Raleigh High, Principal Beulah Wright says personalization is the focus with each adult at the school taking part in academic coaching for small groups of students. Wright said interim reports are issued every three weeks so that students, parents and academic coaches are aware of student needs. Students are further supported with the Bulldog Leadership Institute for new freshmen and instruction in career-focused learning communities. Students are connected to the school through participation in school-sponsored and student-led clubs and organizations.
At Wake Forest-Rolesville High, Principal Andre Smith says the school has developed a pyramid of interventions to help students succeed. Smith says the school introduced mandatory guided study halls this year for students who have a failing grade. With the help of volunteer tutors, students can pull their grades up. Smith said the school’s freshman camp and ninth-grade academy are built on personalization. He says the school uses an advisory system matching adults - who serve as advocates - with students. The school supports teachers by sharing best practices and providing time for teachers to work in professional learning communities.
WCPSS Student Subgroups and the Graduation Rate
Among the various WCPSS student subgroups, female students had a graduation rate just over 7 percentage points higher than male students. The four-year graduation rate varied considerably among ethnic subgroups, with Asian and American Indian students showing rates above 90 percent and white students at 89.6 percent. Students with disabilities, students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch and students with limited English proficiency had graduation rates that were substantially below the systemwide average.
New Graduation Standards in Effect for 2006-07
The State Board of Education approved new graduation standards that include demonstrating proficiency on five state-required high school End-of-Course tests and successful completion of a graduation project. These new standards went into effect this school year affecting the more than 9,000 WCPSS students who entered the ninth grade. The impact of these changes will be reflected with the graduation rate for the class of 2010.
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