Midstate graduation rate hike part of five-year trend

Several potential factors have played a role in steadily increasing high school graduation rates over the past five years.

Since the state Department of Education changed its formula for calculating the rate before the 2010-2011 school year, the state average has increased from 67.4 in 2011 to 78.8 in 2015, which was a significant jump from the 72.5 percent rate in 2014.

"So certainly a steady increase and an even bigger increase this year," said Matt Cardoza, the department's communications director.

Middle Georgia counties have seen similar success during that time. Bibb County improved its graduation rate from 51.3 percent in 2011 to 71.2 percent in 2015, an upswing of 19.9 percentage points. The six surrounding counties -- Crawford, Houston, Jones, Monroe, Peach and Twiggs -- also experienced increases in the past five years, with Crawford leading the way with a jump of 39.8 percentage points.

A bulk of that boost for Crawford came in the last year, when the district's graduation rate improved from 56.4 percent to 82.1 percent.

"We're very proud of the fact that we're above the state average," Brent Lowe, Crawford County's superintendent, said.

The size of that increase was also aided by the fact that, like many Middle Georgia districts, Crawford County had a downturn in graduation rates between 2013 and 2014. Crawford's rate fell from 62.3 percent in 2013 to 56.4 in 2014.

Lowe, in his first year as the district's superintendent, didn't have a solid explanation for that decrease, but he said that changing standards and even course orders for math have made for a difficult adjustment for students and teachers alike.

"I really wish they would come up with an idea and leave it in place long enough for some of us rural schools to wrap our heads around," he said.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

One factor in the most recent improvement was the removal of the Georgia High School Graduation Test as a requirement for getting a diploma, but it didn't play as big of a role as one might think.

Just 65 students in Bibb County missed graduating in 2014 because of the test, meaning that the district's graduation rate still would have increased more than 8 percentage points from 2014 to 2015.

"We're very excited about that," said Tanzy Kilcrease, Bibb County's assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.

Further, the graduation test had already been largely phased out. Since 2011, students could exempt the exam by hitting a certain mark on end-of-course tests in core areas such as math and English.

"You kind of start to notice that not all that many kids were taking the graduation test anymore," Cardoza said.

Another reason for the uptick has been an increased focus on tracking practices. Under the old system, districts could report students that left their enrollment as withdrawals or transfers without knowing where the student actually went.

That has changed under the four-year cohort system.

"If you, the district, can't show where the student went, you can't code it as a withdrawal or a transfer," Cardoza said. "You have to code them as a dropout."

As a result, districts needed to be more diligent about maintaining a close watch on student records.

Kilcrease had a part in that initiative as principal of Southwest High School from 2013-2015.

"We've been very intentional about tracking students, making sure they understand the graduation requirements, including parents in that discussion," she said.

Raising the graduation rate didn't end with simply knowing where the student was headed, either. Kilcrease said she maintained communication with other principals in the district to ensure that students who left her school eventually graduated in four years.

"It's truly a collaborative effort," she said. "We were very intentional about knowing where the students were going and keeping up with them."

CAREER MINDED

In addition, the state has led an initiative to give students more purpose for their studies.

Districts are encouraged to channel students of all ability levels into career pathways for everything from medical fields to automotive repair.

As classes are more directly tied to a chosen field, students can see where what they're learning will apply later on in life, Cardoza said.

"We've had a heavy focus on high school relevance and plugging kids into career pathways," he said. "I think we're really seeing where kids are more engaged."

Kilcrease has seen the "positive impact" of those programs in Bibb County, although the actual effect would be difficult to quantify. She said enrollment in career-based courses has been instrumental in students finding their interests and staying in school.

"I just believe that those CTAE courses help our students determine what career path they want to take," she said.

"That does motivate them to come to school and want to come to school."

Still, much of improving the graduation rate year to year depends on each graduating class or cohort, Kilcrease pointed out. Each class is made up of individual students with individual needs and unique situations, so goals may not always be met.

"You have expectations, but it really depends on the students that come in that ninth-grade year," she said. "It depends on the cohort."

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter@MTJTimm.

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Midstate graduation rate hike part of five-year trend ."