Minorities’ graduation rate

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   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 Eric Schwartzberg

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

Minorities’ graduation rate

Minorities’ graduation rate inconsistent on local level

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