Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, May 18, 2014

Minorities’ graduation rate inconsistent on local level

Percentage losses may be attributed to changes in the way the state measures data.

By  http://www.journal-news.com/staff/eric-schwartzberg/" rel="nofollow - Staff Writer

    The U.S. public high school on-time graduation rate for the class of 2011 reached 80 percent, an all-time high, according to the Center for Public Education

That increase, which reflects the most recent data available, was fueled by substantial gains achieved by minority students, the center said. Hispanic students increased from 64 percent to 75 percent. For black students, the rate rose from 61 percent to 67 percent.

    But in Butler County, despite gains in on-time graduation rate in the vast majority of districts , Hamilton, Middletown, Fairfield and Lakota — the four districts with reported measurable black and Hispanic enrollment — mainly have seen losses instead of gains.

Changes in the way the the Ohio Department of Education gauges data may have something to do with a large drop following 2008-2009, when schools switched from a simple “Final Graduation Rate” measure to 4-year “on-time” graduation rate. Smaller drops from the 2010-2011 to the 2011-2012 school year can be attributed to switching in 2011-2012 from the 4-year “on-time” graduation rate to the new 4-year-longitudinal graduation rate, according to ODE spokesman John Charlton.

    “Four years ago, if 100 (out of 100) kids graduated, then you had a 100 percent graduation rate,” Charlton said. “Ten kids could have dropped out and 10 kids could have enrolled and you would have been able to get 100 percent because you started with 100 and you finished with 100. But with the longitudinal graduation rate, we actually track each individual student.”

    That means if a district started with 100 students and graduated 100 students but with 10 different students in the mix, that would bring its longitudinal graduation rate down because it would include the 10 that did not graduate on time.

    “We feel it’s important to make sure that every student be accounted for,” Charlton said. “Because of that … we saw the graduation rates drop a little bit (for 2011-2012 school year) because it’s a little harder to meet that criteria.”

    With more information, data and transparency, districts are becoming more aware of when they are losing students, which should spur them on to finding out where and why.

The change could also have broader ramifications when it comes to how a district is rated.

    “In the past, where a district may have been “excellent” or “excellent with distinction,” but weak in one area, we didn’t notice that one area that was weak. But now we do, because the report card is a little more detailed and easier to understand,” Charlton said.

Another factor may be enrollment gains. Lakota, Hamilton and Fairfield all saw an increase in the percentage of black and Hispanic enrollment as part of total enrollment in the four-year span.

    In Hamilton, where the percentage of enrolled black and Hispanic students has steadily increased, graduation totals for blacks and Hispanics both saw losses. Graduation totals for black students fell from 88.1 percent to 80.6 percent in the four-year span, while Hispanic graduation rates fell from 92 percent to 63.6 percent in the first year alone before rebounding to 81.8 percent by 2011-2012 school year.

    Keith Millard, assistant superintendent for instruction in Hamilton City Schools, said the district looks at the performance rates for all subgroups and is concerned with the graduation rates for all of its students.

“Recent changes to our summer school and credit recovery programs have been made to specifically address the issue of students who are credit deficient and at risk for not graduating,” Millard said. “The approach at the high school is to address the need for credit recovery at the moment it is identified in order to reduce the number of students who get to significant levels of academic distress.”

    The change in the way the state calculated graduation rates for students partially explains the reason for the perceived drop in performance for many districts after 2008-2009, he said.

     “Instead of calculating graduation rates based on the senior year and two year averages, the calculation is now based on a four and five year adjusted cohort, which accounts for the number of students who enter the class as freshman, adjusts for move-ins and withdrawals, and then produces a final graduation percentage,” Millard said.

“Hamilton City School District is committed to graduating as many of its students in four years as possible, but it also continues to work with students that need additional time to complete their graduation requirements,” he said.

    “The acknowledgement by the Ohio Department of Education that some students need additional time, and the ability to get credit for graduating students who need a fifth year, is a benefit to districts that strive to meet the learning needs of all students, including those who many not graduate in a traditional four year time-frame,” Millard said.

    In Middletown, the percentage of enrolled black students is about 2 percent less than it was 2008-2009 and the rate of enrolled Hispanic students has climbed by nearly 3 percent. The percentage of black students graduating fell in 2009-2010 from 78.8 to 68.2, but has increased since then to 72.7 in 2010-2011 and 73.7 in 2011-2012. Hispanic student 4-year graduation rates rose from 53.3 percent in 2008-2009 to 61.5 percent in 2009-2010, dropped to 54.2 the following year and rose to 57.1 the year after.

Presented with those statistics, Middletown High School Principal Carmela Cotter stressed that Middletown City School District’s graduation rate is climbing.

    “We struggle with our sub group, but we have supports in place to increase our graduation rates,” Cotter said. “We have special programs to assist students with graduation. Every student at MHS matters.”

    Despite enrollment increases for blacks and Hispanics, on-time graduation ranks for black students in the Lakota Local School District jumped from 81.1 for the 2008-2009 school year to 90.1 by 2011-2012, according to the most current data available via the Ohio Department of Education.

    That was one of the factors in the district’s graduation totals rising to 93.80 percent for the 2011-2012 school year.

    Meanwhile, the rate of Hispanic students graduating on time rates seesawed from 86.5 percent in 2008-2009, to 73.7 percent in 2009-2010, back up to 86.5 in 2010-2011 and down to 74.4 percent in 2011-2012.

    “We’re pleased with the steady progress in graduation rates for African-American students, but we still have more work to do, with them and all our students,” said Randy Oppenheimer, spokesman for Lakota schools. “Every student should graduate. Many of our Hispanic students are still building their English-language skills. That makes succeeding in school even more challenging. We’re committed to helping them meet those challenges.”

    In Fairfield, where the percentage of enrolled black and Hispanic students also has steadily increased, graduation totals for black students fell from 94 percent in the 2008-2009 to 80.2 in 2009-2010, only to rebound to 88.4 by the 2011-2o12 school year.

Hispanic graduation rates fell from 92 percent to 87 percent between 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, rose to 89.3 the following year and dropped to 81.3 in 2011-2012.

Such a shift in graduation rates among those students means the district will need to continue its work to ensure that its growing minority population of students is being served, said district spokeswoman Gina Gentry-Fletcher.

    “We have to be mindful that the variables are huge with this data,” Gentry-Fletcher said. “Circumstances of the students during a particular school year will impact the percentages, and it is difficult to determine a reason without guessing. Diversity is a strength in our district, and we can use this data to improve programming to best serve all students.”

Black and Hispanic graduation rate

District Name/ Ethnicity/ 2011-2012***/ % of total enrollment/ 2010-2011**/ % of total enrollment/ 2009-2010**/ % of total enrollment/ 2008-2009*/ % of total enrollment

Fairfield City/ Black/ 88.4/ 14.8/ 81.3/ 14.6/ 80.2/ 13.9/ 94/ 13.1

Fairfield City/ Hispanic/ 81.3/ 6.9/ 89.3/ 6.2/ 87/ 5.7/ 92/ 5

Hamilton City/ Black/ 80.6/ 11.4/ 79.4/ 11.0/ 81.3/ 10.7/ 88.1/ 9.8

Hamilton City/ Hispanic/ 81.8/ 10.7/ 84/ 8.9/ 63.6/ 8.1/ 92/ 6.9

Lakota Local/ Black/ 90.1/ 10.3/ 85.1/ 10.3/ 84.4/ 10.0/ 81.1/ 9.4

Lakota Local/ Hispanic/ 74.4/ 4.8/ 86.5/ 4.3/ 73.7/ 3.9/ 86.5/ 3.3

Middletown City/ Black/ 73.7/ 15.8/ 72.7/ 15.6/ 68.2/ 16.2/ 78.8/ 17.8

Middletown City/ Hispanic/ 57.1/ 7.6/ 54.2/ 6.8/ 61.5/ 6.6/ 53.3/ 4.7

* - Graduation Rate

**- Four-Year “On-Time” Graduation Rate

***- Four-Year Longitudinal Graduation Rate

Source: Ohio Department of Education

Overall District 4-Year Graduation Rate

District/2011-2012 School Year/ 2010-2011 School Year/ 2009-2010 School Year

Fairfield City/ 93.20%/ 91.00%/ 90.00%/

Hamilton City/ 82.50%/ 81.40%/ 81.70%/

Lakota Local/ 93.80%/ 92.40%/ 92.40%/

Madison Local/ 93.30%/ 90.90%/ 84.10%/

Middletown City/ 78.60%/ 74.30%/ 72.60%/

Monroe Local/ 95.60%/ 95.00%/ 92.40%/

New Miami Local/ 85.10%/ 95.90%/ 88.40%/

Ross Local/ 97.90%/ 97.20%/ 92.10%/

Talawanda City/ 96.50%/ 96.90%/ 89.60%/

Source: Ohio Department of Education