Graduation rates above state average in Henderson
Henderson County's high school graduation rate is ahead of the state average.
The local school district recorded an 88.5 percent graduation rate in 2013 compared to the state average of 86.1 percent. The figures comes from a district report card for Henderson County Schools issued by the Kentucky Department of Education earlier this year.
Both the local and state graduation rates were up from 2012. Henderson County Schools saw 82 percent of its high schools seniors graduate in 2012, while the state averaged 77.8 percent.
This means the school system easily met its goal of increasing its graduation rate by 1.5 percent over the previous year. Its target is to raise its rates to 89.6 percent districtwide for 2014 and to 90.6 percent for 2015.
Union County Public Schools' graduation rate for 2013 is the highest in the Tri-county area at 88.9 percent.
The graduation rate for the previous year was unavailable, but the district's goal is to raise the rate to 89.9 percent for 2014 and to 90.9 percent in 2015.
Webster County Schools recorded a 83.3 percent graduation rate in 2013, which falls below the state average of 86.1 percent.
As with Union County, the graduation rate for 2012 in Webster County is unavailable. To stay on target, Webster County Schools is expected by the state to raise the graduation rate to 84.8 percent for 2014 and to 86.5 percent by 2015.
The percentages are part of a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate. The rate is the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class.
From the beginning of freshman year, students who enter that grade for the first time form a cohort that is subsequently "adjusted," according to KDE. This is done by adding any students who transfer into the cohort later during ninth grade and the next three years and subtracting any students who transfer out, move to another country or die during the same period.
The way graduation rates are calculated underwent a radical shift a few years ago.
The "Lever Rate" was used for many years in Kentucky, but was abandoned in 2009 because the federal government wanted comparable rates from state to state. That model didn't take into account all students equitably, said Jinger Carter, director of accountability and assessments at Henderson County Schools. For example, it didn't track students transferring to a different high school.
The Lever Rate was deemed unacceptable to calculate graduation rates, she said, so Kentucky transitioned to the average freshman graduation rate. As its name suggests, the model is only an average.
The AFGR was used to calculate rates through 2012, and then the cohort model was adopted into practice.
"Cohort is the best way," Carter said. "I look at it as it's tracking these kids individually. Where they started as freshman and when they ended four years later ? did they graduate?"
If students transfer to another high school, that school starts tracking the student. In the past, the student would not be tracked and their transfer would count against HCHS' graduation rate.
"As long as it's a verified transfer, they don't count for or against you," she said. "If a student drops out it counts against you."
Students who die before graduating also don't affect the graduation rate. However, they did under previous models.
Central Academy also will have its own graduation rate, though the figures are unavailable for the previous year. Though it's an alternative school, under the cohort model, any school that holds a graduation ceremony has a graduation rate.
For the class of 2014 and classes to follow, there will also be what's called an extended year adjusted cohort rate. This takes into account special education students whose individual learning plans indicate it will take them more than four years to graduate, she said.
Special education students who receive certificates of attainment instead of diplomas are not considered graduates as per federal guidelines. Instead, they count negatively toward a school's graduation rate.
"It's unfortunate because those students went through those four years and received an alternative diploma," said Carter.
Even though Henderson's graduation rate is 88.5 percent, that doesn't mean that it has a 11.5 percent drop out rate, Carter said.
The reality is more complex. The actual drop out rate could be as low as 2 percent or as high as 15 percent, she said, adding the school system does keep track of how many kids drop out each year.
Graduation rates lagged one class behind under the Lever Rate and AFGR. While local high school students typically graduate in May, the local school systems would not receive the graduation rate data until the fall of the following year.
Under the cohort model, Henderson County Schools will receive graduation rates for the Class of 2014 in autumn.