Local grad rates top state averages
EL CENTRO — For approximately the fifth year in a row, the graduation rate of high school students in the county has measured higher than the statewide average graduation rate, Imperial County Office of Education announced Tuesday.
According to data released by California Department of Education, Imperial County had a 4.4 percent higher graduation rate than the state average for the 2016-2017 school year.
The data, known as the 20162017 Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rates (ACGR), was calculated by CDE based on new federal guidance and audit recommendations.
A cohort is defined by students who, for example, began high school in the 2013-2014 school year and graduated last year.
Last school year, the county had an ACGR rate of 87.1 percent, while the state had an ACGR rate of 82.7 percent.
This shows that local graduation rates have steadily increased, as local schools graduated 83 percent of students in 2014.
ACGR data also revealed that the county had a lower percentage of students from last year’s cohort still enrolled in high school, and a lower percentage of students who dropped out of high school.
Approximately 4.5 percent of students in the county from last year’s cohort were still enrolled in high school, either as a fifth-year student or attending a continuation or alternative school, at the time the ACGR were collected.
Statewide, 5.5 percent of students from last year’s cohort were still enrolled in high school.
Last year, the county had 4.1 percent less high school students drop out compared to the statewide average.
“It’s a small community,” ICOE Director of Development Todd Evangelist stated. “There are closer relationships here, and those relationships typically help not falling through the gaps. In Imperial County, typically teachers know students and they know their parents and siblings.
So if somebody is not in school, they’ll make phone calls to try to get them into school. There are some good systems here to make sure they’re not dropping out, and to make sure they’re on track to graduating.”
The county is still behind in graduates who fail to take the classes required, also known as A-G criteria, in order to attend a state university.
An average of 49.9 percent of graduates statewide met the A-G criteria, while only 30.9 percent of students in the county met the criteria.
“Although there are some highlights in our data, there is still some work to be done. Imperial County schools and districts continue to examine and explore how to best serve our students and narrow the achievement gap among groups” stated Dr. Todd Finnell, County Superintendent of Schools. “It is vital that our students not only graduate, but they are also ready for college and career opportunities.”
In order to better prepare their students for higher education, a number of local high schools, such as Holtville, Brawley and Imperial, have implemented the A-G criteria as a requirement to graduate.
“When it comes to A-G, schools districts in Imperial County are evaluating their system to make sure students are better prepared to be A-G compliant,” Evangelist stated. “That requires a lot of changes. For some districts, it’s adding a third year of math. For some districts, it’s adding A-G to its graduation requirements.”
Additionally, 19 percent of Imperial County students earned a Golden State Seal Merit Diploma and 11 percent earned a Seal of Biliteracy. State percentages amounted to 24 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively.
“While we’re higher than the state by a small fraction, I think it’s safe to he say that Imperial Valley educators agree that we really could capitalize on the percentage of students earning the Seal of Biliteracy,” Evangelist stated.
Data reports such as the ACGR help districts and schools alike continue to examine their outcomes and work to refine their system to increase academic achievement and graduate success, an ICOE press release stated.