State Grad Rate Hits High; Half of Local Schools Improve
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Indiana Department of Education released the 2011 graduation rates for schools today, and the numbers are up for half of the eight area school corporations.
For the three school corporations in Kosciusko County – Warsaw, Wawasee and Tippecanoe Valley – the graduation rates are up for a second consecutive year.
According to an IDOE press release, Indiana’s graduation rate improved to 85.7 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, increasing 1.6 percent over last year and 4.3 percent over the 2009 rate. This is the highest graduation rate Hoosier students have achieved since the state began measuring the four-year cohort graduation rate in 2005.
Warsaw had 457 students in its 2011 cohort group, with 406 graduating for a rate of 88.8 percent. That’s up from 83.9 in 2010 and 74.9 percent in 2009.
Of the 252 students in Wawasee’s 2011 cohort group, 231 graduated for a rate of 91.7 percent. That’s up from 83.4 percent in 2010 and in 2009.
Tippecanoe Valley had 135 students graduate out of 160 in 2011, for 84.4 percent. That’s up from 80.4 percent in 2010 and 75.4 percent in 2009.
The fourth area school corporation to see its graduation rate increase in 2011 compared to 2010 and 2009 was Manchester Schools. Of 111 students in its 2011 cohort group, 106 graduated from Manchester for 95.5 percent. It was 88.3 percent in 2010 and 87.4 percent in 2009.
After reaching a graduation rate of 90.6 percent in 2010, Whitko saw its 2011 graduation rate drop almost 10 percentage points to 80.7. Whitko had 117 of its 145 students in the 2011 cohort graduate. The 2011 graduation rate is even lower than its 2009 rate of 84.9 percent.
Triton’s 2011 graduation rate also was lower than its 2010 and 2009 graduation rates. Seventy-one of 83 Triton students graduated in 2011, for 85.5 percent. In 2010, it was 89.7 percent and 86.5 percent in 2009.
Rochester’s 2011 graduation rate dropped only slightly from 92.1 percent in 2010 to 92.0 percent. Its 2009 rate was 78.8 percent. Rochester had 126 students of 137 in its 2011 cohort graduate.
Wa-Nee School Corp. had a 2011 graduation rate of 85.8 percent. There were 187 students in its 2011 cohort of 218 graduate. Wa-Nee’s 2010 graduation rate was 94.7 percent, and 87.1 percent in 2009.
The IDOE press release states that approximately 45 percent of public high schools met or exceeded the 90-percent graduation mark, and 83 percent of public high schools graduated 80 percent or more of their seniors. In addition, 55 percent of schools improved their graduation rates over last school year, with 25 percent of schools improving their rate by five or more percentage points.
“I am incredibly proud and encouraged by the gains being made in schools across the state,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett said in the press release. “Our teachers and principals continue to push for excellence, and our students are benefiting.”
In total, 80 percent of graduates received a Core40 or Honors diploma in 2011, the most in Indiana’s history. More than 200 schools (58 percent) increased the number of students receiving an Honors diploma over last year. Non-waiver graduation rates also improved statewide, increasing from 78.1 percent in 2010 to 78.9 percent in 2011.
Of the 14.3 percent of students who did not earn diplomas, 6.1 percent were reported as high school dropouts/undetermined – 0.3 percent fewer dropouts than were reported in the 2010 school year. Other non-graduates include students who earned General Education Development diplomas (0.4 percent), special education certificates (1.2 percent), non-diploma course completion certificates (0.2 percent) and those still enrolled in school (6.3 percent).
Beginning today, information on Indiana’s graduation rate is available at www.doe.in.gov/improvement/accountability/graduation-cohort-rate
