We'll know the Achievement Gap is closed when the diversity of our community is reflected in our high school graduation rates.
Graduation Rates - Effective June 2008, state-level graduation rate information will be posted to Parents United for Public Schools.
Graduation Rates (and Completion studies) at the Minnesota Department of Education.
Summary of data and key reports on the dropout crisis - Connect for Kids.
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April 2008 - Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation - Minneapolis ranked 45th out of the Nation's 50 Largest Cities; 17 percent graduation rate gap between urban core and surrounding suburbs, America’s Promise Alliance/EPE Research Center.
March 2008 - Snapshots on Minnesota Youth: Graduation Rates - The graduation rate in 2006-07 was 73 percent, calculated as the number of 9th graders enrolled in any school who four years later graduated. Of that same student population, 6.5 percent dropped-out and 14 percent were continuing their high school education beyond four years. Data is missing or unknown for the remaining 6.6% of students, Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Minnesota Department of Education.
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With the exception of Asian/Pacific Islander students who have a graduation rate of 67.4 percent, the graduation rate for minority students is slightly less than 40 percent. American Indian, Hispanic, and African American students are continuing their high school education beyond four years with rates of 27.4 percent, 24.0 percent and 35.1 percent, respectively. |
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January 2008 (Updated) - Understanding High School Graduation Rates in Minnesota - Minnesota has a 40% Black-White Graduation Rate Gap (NCES Common Core of Data, 2002-03 and 2003-04), Alliance for Excellent Education (State Profiles Sources and Notes).
June 2007 - Diplomas Count: Ready for What? Preparing for College, Careers, and Life After High School - To earn a decent wage in the United States, young people need to anticipate completing at least some college, Education Week.
September 2006 - Minnesota Education Trends, 2000 to 2005 - Elementary enrollments declining, diversifying; high school graduation rates rise slightly, gaps in graduation rates by race and ethnicity remain large, Minnesota State Demographic Center.
June 2006 - Diplomas Count: Minnesota, An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates, Education Week's Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. [Free log in required]
June 2006 - Diplomas count: State and District Patterns, Education Week's Editorial Projects in Education (Data Source: NCES Common Core of Data, 2002-03). [Free log in required]
Minnesota ranked:
8th in the nation on overall Graduation Rates, All Students at 79%
10th in the nation on Graduation Rates, White Students at 83.1%
44th in the nation on Graduation Rates, Black Students at 43.6%
5th in the nation on Black-White Graduation Rate Gaps at 39.5% (not good)
Notes: New Jersey, North Dakota, Iowa, Vermont and Wisconsin outperformed Minnesota on overall Graduation Rates, All Students; all at over 80%. Oregon, Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota had the highest Black-White Graduation Rate Gaps; all at greater than 39%. Hawaii, West Virginia, Mississippi, Arizona and Wyoming had the lowest Black-White Graduation Rate Gaps; all at less than 10%. New Jersey, Iowa, Connecticut and Pennsylvania outperformed Minnesota on both overall Graduation Rates and smaller Black-White Graduation Rate Gaps. Black-White Graduation Rate Gap data was not available for North Dakota, Vermont, Idaho, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Maine, Tennessee and South Carolina because necessary data field(s) were not reported in CCD or because of very small group size.
April 2006 - Making Good on a Promise: What Policymakers Can Do to Support the Educational Persistence of Dropouts - Nearly 60% of high school dropouts eventually earn a high school credential, in most cases a GED. Almost half of those that earn secondary credentials later enroll in two- or four-year colleges. Yet less than 10% who enroll in postsecondary education earn a degree, Jobs for the Future.
March 31, 2006 - Making the Grade? Hmong students in St. Paul graduating at same rate as whites, but are we truly equals yet?, Hmong Today.
March 17, 2006 - Hmong graduation rate same as whites, Student progress to be featured at national conference, Aron Kahn, Pioneer Press.
March 2006 - Whatever it Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth, American Youth Policy Forum
March 2006 - The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts - Most students don't drop out because they can't do the work. Nearly 90 percent had passing grades when they left school, according to the survey of dropouts by Civic Enterprises. Their major reason for opting out? The classes were too boring. Attendance Patterns are a Key Warning Sign - Civic Enterprises and Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
October 2005 - The Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate for Public High Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Years 2001-02 and 2002-03 - Minnesota ranked fifth in 2001-02 and sixth in 2002-03, National Center for Education Statistics.
July 2005 - Graduation Counts: A Compact on State High School Graduation Data - An agreement to implement the following recommendations, National Governor's Association:
- begin implementing a standard four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate;
- lead efforts to improve state data collection, reporting and analysis, and link data systems across the entire education pipeline from preschool through postsecondary education;
- take steps to implement additional indicators that provide richer information and understanding about outcomes for students and how well the system is serving them; and
- report annual progress on the improvement of their state high school graduation, completion and dropout rate data.
2005 - Graduation Counts: A Report of the NGA Task Force on State High School Graduation Data - Outlines five task force recommendations states should use to develop a high-quality, comparable high school graduation measure, as well as complementary indicators of student progress and outcomes and data systems capable of collecting, analyzing and reporting the data, National Governor's Association.
2005 - Multiple Measures Approaches to High School Graduation, School Redesign Network, Standford University.
February 2005 - Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002 - Minnesota ranks 24th in the nation on 2002 African-American high school graduation rates at 54% (84% overall), Manhatten Institute for Policy Research.
February 2005 - Percentage of Minnesota High School Graduates Entering College Up Slightly, Minnesota Higher Education Services Office.
November 2004 - Dropout Rates in the United States: 2001, Minnesota ranks 15th in the nation on 4 Year Completion Rate of 9th Grade Students (pdf page 57), NCES.
August 2004 - The Real Truth about Graduation Rates: An Evidence-Based Commentary, The Urban Institute Education Policy Center.
June 2004 - The Dropout Crisis: Promising Approaches in Prevention and Recovery, Jobs for the Future.
February 2004 - Only 50-50 Chance of high school graduation for U.S. minority students, weak accountability rules found, Half or more of Black, Hispanic and Native American youth in the United States are getting left behind before high school graduation in a hidden crisis that is obscured by U.S. Department of Education regulations issued under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act that allow schools, districts, and states to all but eliminate graduation rate accountability for minority subgroups, according to a new report from two nonpartisan groups, The Civil Rights Project at Harvard and The Urban Institute.
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