In year of eased standards, more diplomas handed out
With Regents exams off table, some districts see more graduates
New York graduation rates rose in 2019-20, a school year upended by the COVID -19 pandemic, according to the most recent data from the state Education Department.
In the Capital Region, 23 high schools saw higher graduation rates as graduation requirements were eased because of the health crisis.
In Mechanicville, graduation rates jumped 12 percentage points, from 82 percent in 2019 to 95 percent in 2020. In Watervliet City School District, 89 percent of high school students graduated in 2019-20, an 11-point rise from 2018-19 when 78 percent graduated. Green Island schools saw graduation rates rise 10 percentage points from 79 percent to 89 percent.
Mechanicville Superintendent Bruce Potter credits “recovery plans” the district established for struggling students during the school closures as well as the district’s shift away from grading homework to a feedback-based approached.
“There is no timeline on learning and we feel the artificial deadlines of marking peri
ods only hurts struggling learners,” Potter said.
Four local districts saw no change in graduation rates last year.
Graduation rates fell slightly in 13 districts, including those serving affluent suburban areas like Bethlehem, Niskayuna and the Shenendehowa district. The largest decrease in graduation rates appears to be among rural schools, including Stillwater and Galway, which saw their rates drop four and five percentage points, respectively.
In smaller districts, which graduate smaller classes, one student dropping out can skew the statistics.
Galway High School lost one student, who left the district before senior year. Three other seniors received non-accredited “local diplomas” known as CDOS (Career Development and Occupational Studies Commencement Credential) through the local BOCES organization, school officials said.
Galway Superintendent Brita Donovan said she found it “disheartening ” that the state didn’t recognize students who completed the trade-based tracks as graduates.
“We have a huge success rate with our CDOS students,” she said. “One of our CDOS students who ... went through the culinary program last year now works in our food program. I don’t think these students are correctly acknowledged and celebrated.”
During the mandated school closures, rural districts had unique challenges reaching students living in areas without consistent internet access. In Galway, every student had a device but the broadband wasn’t strong enough to support multiple devices in one home.
“There were five (seniors) that really struggled at the end and our teachers worked really hard to do everything they can to make sure they were successful,” Galway Principal Michael Miller said. “There were
students that got daily visits we would take turns making sure they were getting the work and they had the structure that they needed.”
Statewide, 84.8 percent of public school students graduated by August 2020, a 1.4 percentage point jump from the previous year’s graduation rates, according to the data released Wednesday. Graduation rates have risen 8 percentage points since 2009-2010, when 76.8 percent of high school students graduated on time.
This data applies to the cohort that entered high school in 2016 and graduated within four years.
Education officials said the gains were likely affected by the state’s cancellation of the Regents exams in response to the mandatory school closures, adding that the impact of the non-testing is unknown.
Typically students must pass four or five subject-matter tests in order to graduate high school. During the pandemic, students in grades 7-12 were exempt from taking a Regents exam if they passed the course in that subject area.
“Our educators, school staff, and families have come together to support our students throughout this pandemic,” Interim Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said. “Virtually overnight, teaching was transformed from in-person to
remote instruction. The shift to remote learning highlighted a digital divide across the state that must be addressed to give all students a level playing field and we remain focused on educational equity for all students.”
Many school districts also softened grading rubrics, allowing students to pass courses by demonstrating “evidence of learning ” instead of showing proficiency to ensure that students were not academically harmed during the pandemic.
The data shows achievement gaps narrowed last year for underserved student populations like English Language Learners, students with disabilities, and Black and Latino students, particularly in big city and high needs school districts, but large disparities remain.
Statewide, Black and Latino students each improved their graduation rates by just over 2 percentage points last year, seeing the greatest growth of any race or ethnicity group. Over 10 years, the gap has narrowed by over nine percentage points for Black and Hispanic students, respectively, when compared to white students.
Native American students improved their graduation rate by 2.2 percentage points from in 2019-20 compared to the previous year.
This was the first year Asianamerican students’ graduation rate surpassed that of white
students.
Advocates for educational equity at The Education Trustnew York said the graduation data is misleading and not reflective of the experiences of vulnerable student populations who were most impacted during the school closure period.
School districts, forced to abruptly close in March, did not have sufficient time to set up a robust virtual curriculum. Students not proficient in English, those with disabilities, poor students, and students of color were less likely to have connected in the virtual classroom in the spring.
“The increase in the high school graduation rate for the Class of 2020 masks urgent equity questions about historical and persistent opportunity gaps,” said Dia Bryant, deputy director and chief partnerships officer for The Education Trust—new York. “With the unprecedented interruption of classroom instruction and learning due to the pandemic last March and no Regents exams or other consistent measures of student readiness for many students, we are deeply concerned about whether the Class of 2020 left high school ready for college and the workforce.”
Bryant praised the Education Department’s recent guidance to districts on how to support the Class of 2021 and urged that state and local education leaders direct more resources to these students.
Before the health crisis, the Board of Regents had been analyzing the state’s graduation standards and exploring alternatives to the 100-year-old Regents exit exams. Educational officials said those data-driven conversations with regional stakeholders about how to strengthen the value of a New York diploma will continue into the summer and the fall.
Low and average-need districts continue to have the highest graduation rates at 95.3 percent and 90.4 percent, respectively. Large city, high need schools continue to have the lowest graduation rates, and a significant gap remains between the graduation rates of highand low-need districts. The charter school graduation rate decreased 1.3 percentage points this year, to 79.5 percent. Female students continue to graduate at a significantly higher rate than their male peers, with graduation rates at 88.6 percent for females and 81.3 percent for males for the cohort of students who entered high school in 2016.
The percentage of students who dropped out of school decreased by 1 percentage point last year. Notably, the dropout rate for ELLS continues to fall, from 29.7 percent in 2013 to 25.5 percent in 2020— but remains significantly higher than all other subgroups of students.
State education officials said they will continue their efforts to close the graduation rate gap through the implementation of the state’s ESSA plan, My Brother’s Keeper, the Culturally Responsive-sustaining Education initiative, addressing the digital divide, and other efforts.
“During the pandemic, we all have been forced to adjust how we go about our daily lives,” board Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said. “When our schools were abruptly required to close last March, the Board took the necessary action to ensure the safety and well-being of all students while providing them with the opportunity to progress academically.”