Preliminary numbers released by the Department of Education show about 80 percent of Missouri’s high school students graduated this year.

Several small, rural schools throuhout the state graduated seniors at a 100 percent rate.

The Department of Education is using a new formula to determine graduation rates, which parallels other states.

Leigh Ann Grant-Engle, Missouri assistant education commissioner in the Office of Data System Management, says the calculation changes are required by the U.S. Department of Education. It does not count GED earners as graduates, but does take into account that some students graduate after five years, not four.

The formula change is part of process that began with the National Governors’ Association in 2005 so that graduation rates could be compared from state to state. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education wrote that “Since data reporting requirements were implemented under (the 2001) No Child Left Behind (law), states have calculated graduation rates using varying methods, creating inconsistent data from one state to the next.”

Preliminary numbers in Missouri show the highest rate is among multi-racial students — 91 percent. The lowest percentage graduating high school are those who speak English as a second language — 61 percent, following a close second, 63 percent among black students.

Grant-Engle says over the past decade, the state’s traditional graduation rate has gradually increased, rising from 82 percent to 86 percent over the past ten years. The new formula brings those totals down slightly.

Preliminary numbers show ten Missouri schools are graduating fewer than 70 percent. They’re located in Southeast Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City:

  • Don Bosco (Independence), 25 percent
  • Laquey R-V, 46 percent
  • Delasalle Charter, 50 percent
  • Missouri School for the Blind, 50 percent
  • Missouri School for the Deaf, 55 percent
  • Normandy, 57 percent
  • Caruthersville, 60 percent
  • Southland C-9, 61 percent
  • Independence, 68 percent
  • Hickman Mills (Kansas City), 69 percent

More than 30 small, rural schools throughout the state graduated 100 percent of their high school seniors this year. They are: Atlanta C-3, Ballard R-II, Breckenridge R-I, Buchanan Co. R-IV, Canesville R-I, Chadwick R-I, Couch R-I, Craig R-III, Dadeville R-II, Delta R-V, Osage Co. R-I, Pattonsburg R-II, Princeton R-V, Ridgeway R-IV, S. Holt Co. R-I, St. Elizabeth, Stet R-XV, Tina-Avalon, and Zalma. All of them have 100 percent white populations.

Grant-Engle stresses that the new four-year graduation rate is not a correction of the current graduation rate, nor should it be compared with the current graduation rate. She says one rate is not more accurate than the other, but they are merely different calculation rates for different purposes.

Four-Year District Graduation Rate (Excel spreadsheet, search by district.)

The statewide report card will be available Dec. 1 in the Department’s online Top 10 by 20 dashboard at www.dese.mo.gov/top10by20. District- and school-level reports will be available in the Department’s interactive MCDS portal at http://mcds.dese.mo.gov/Pages/default.aspx.

Missouri 2010-2011 Four-Year High School Graduation Rate      
Missouri State Rates Four-Year High School Graduation Rate 2010-2011      
All Students 79.8      
Asian 85.7      
Black 63.9      
Hispanic of any race 73.9      
American Indian or Alaskan Native 76.8      
Multi-Racial 91.8      
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 81.0      
White 84.5      
Special Education Students 66.9      
English Language Learners (LEP/ELL) 61.2      
Free and Reduced Lunch 73.0      
Female 83.5      
Male 76.4      
         
Additional details at: http://dese.mo.gov/four-year-grad-rate.html