Graduation Rate
School Does Not Graduate Students
Q. Why does my high school Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report show a graduation rate when we don’t even graduate students?
A. Section 200.19 of the federal Title I regulations requires the use of graduation rates as an additional indicator for high schools to determine AYP. The United States Department of Education (ED) insists that this requirement applies to “all” high schools, including high schools that do not graduate students. This requirement includes all schools with any high school students (in grades nine through twelve) since the ED requires the use of a four-year graduation rate.
As a result, although comprehensive high schools or Local Educational Agencies (LEA) that have appropriate dropout and graduation data have their 2006 graduation rates calculated using standard procedures, graduation rates for other schools use alternative methods. This occurs in two cases:
- Comprehensive high schools without the necessary data to calculate 2006 graduation rates use a proxy graduation rate. The method for calculating a proxy graduation rate is described on page 44 of the 2006 Adequate Yearly Progress Report Information Guide.
- High schools with the primary mission of returning students to the regular classroom in a comprehensive high school have their graduation rate assigned by the CDE as follows:
- High schools that are administered by an LEA are assigned the LEA’s graduation rate.
- Direct-funded charter high schools are assigned the graduation rate of the charter authorizer. If the charter authorizer does not have a rate, the countywide rate is assigned.
- High schools administered by a county office of education are assigned the countywide rate.
