FERMIN LEAL/EDSOURCE TODAYCalifornia education officials last week bragged about the seventh consecutive year of improvement in the statewide high school graduation rate, which reached 83.2 percent for the class of 2016. That was 0.9 percentage point above the previous year. However, behind that omnibus number is a world of variety, both among ethnic groups, school districts and individual high schools.
EdSource has created a database that families and educators can use to look up how well their districts and schools are doing in getting students their diplomas within four years. They can also search for dropout rates and measurements of how many students are taking more than four years to finish high school.
Here is the link to search district by district.
It is no surprise that school districts in affluent communities generally do better. Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, in a beach side portion of Los Angeles County, recorded a 98.6 percent graduation rate and Silicon Valley’s Palo Alto Unified hit 94.9. In contrast, the urban Los Angeles Unified District, which serves many low income students, showed a 77 percent graduation rate, and the similar Oakland Unified had 64.9 percent.
Use this link to research individual high schools.
Across the state, 149 schools report 100 percent graduation rates, including such campuses as Shasta High in Shasta Union High School District and South Hills High in Covina-Valley Unified in Los Angeles County. And many, of course, fell far short, especially some continuation and detention-based schools that deal with a population of troubled youth.
The increases in the statewide and local graduation rates in recent years have been attributed to education funding boosts that helped decrease class size and expand career-technical classes. Another factor is in play as well: the suspension of the high school exit exam last year.
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Robert 3 years ago3 years ago
I am reminded of the famous Simpsons quote: ‘People can come up with statistics to prove anything. 40% of all people know that.’
Christine 4 years ago4 years ago
As a CA teacher I know the data for state and local graduation rates is skewed. Many students are preforming well below grade level and teachers are instructed to pass them as failing means poor school ratings, lower graduation rates for the state, inhibiting a student’s ability to move through the system, increased drop out rates, etc. The graduation bar has been lowered with the end of the CAHSEE and exacerbated as we push … Read More
As a CA teacher I know the data for state and local graduation rates is skewed. Many students are preforming well below grade level and teachers are instructed to pass them as failing means poor school ratings, lower graduation rates for the state, inhibiting a student’s ability to move through the system, increased drop out rates, etc. The graduation bar has been lowered with the end of the CAHSEE and exacerbated as we push many students who are not ready to enter grade 13 (community college remediation classes) where they require remedial curriculum to even access the content. The data does not tell the whole story.
makayla 4 years ago4 years ago
Good information for an essay for 10th graders!
Judith Ladely 4 years ago4 years ago
More graduates after dropping the exit exam. Who decides what these graduates really learned? It has been reported that many students being graduated do not have the abilities needed for college and many jobs.
Dale Sawyers 6 years ago6 years ago
A complete scam.I have taught high school in California for the last 20 years and was removed from teaching seniors because I would not just pass all kids. Any teachers trying to hold the academic line are permanently labeled as troublemakers.
Danielle Kelley 6 years ago6 years ago
Thank you for broadening our knowledge in this area. As an Adjunct Professor in a major university, my first response was jubilation that more students are graduating and then consternation about their level of skill development since many grad … Read More
Thank you for broadening our knowledge in this area. As an Adjunct Professor in a major university, my first response was jubilation that more students are graduating and then consternation about their level of skill development since many grad school professors complained about being dumped the task to teach students with elementary writing and critical reasoning skills!