Graduation rate drops as state changes calculation
By Matthew Stone mstone@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer
Newly released data show Maine’s high school graduation rate dipped between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, but a new method for calculating graduation rates is largely to blame.
The Maine Department of Education on Monday released statewide and school-by-school graduation rates for the 2008-09 academic year.
Some 80.4 percent of students who began high school in the fall of 2005 had graduated four years later, the data show. That’s a drop from the 83.5 percent graduation rate the Department of Education reported for the 2007-08 school year.
But the 2007-08 rate was calculated using a formula that took into account those who took more than four years to graduate, but still received conventional diplomas. The newest rate highlights only the percentage of students who graduated in four years or fewer, or who completed their coursework during a summer session following their fourth year.
“The value in this method is that it puts every state on the same page,” said David Connerty-Marin, a Department of Education spokesman. “We can compare: Who’s successful in what areas and how? What are we not doing well? And what can we do about it?”
The Department of Education is shifting to what’s called a cohort method for calculating graduation rates in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind law that passed in 2002. That legislation requires that all states shift to the same method in time to report their 2009-10 graduation rates in an effort to make state-by-state graduation rates comparable.
For some schools, the newly calculated graduation rate was good news.
At Maranacook Community High School in Readfield, the 2008-09 rate was 92.7 percent, up from 87.2 percent for 2007-08.
“We have individualized kids’ programs; it’s really been a mission,” said Carol Fritz, the principal. “It’s been very intentional on our parts to find the path that they need to graduate.”
Carrabec High School in North Anson showed more than an eight-point jump, reporting a 73.5 percent rate for the 2008-09 year and 65.1 percent for 2007-08.
Kenneth Coville, the district superintendent who was the high school’s principal until last month, hesitated to draw conclusions.
“It’s difficult when the means of calculating changes to draw comparisons because you’re not comparing apples to apples anymore,” he said.
The new cohort method for calculating graduation rates ignores the individualized paths that some students might take, Coville said, and forces schools to report students who take unconventional paths to graduation as dropouts.
“The policy position the Department (of Education) has taken is that students should have flexibility to graduate in less than four years or sometimes in more than four years,” he said. “But simultaneously, they use a methodology that is contradictory to that policy position.”
The revised graduation rate calculations caused a significant drop in the rates some schools reported. At Deer Isle-Stonington High School, for example, the 2008-09 rate dropped to 57.5 percent from 80.4 percent for 2007-08.
Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield saw its graduation rate fall to 80.8 percent for 2008-09, down from 95.3 percent the previous year.
Jennifer Beane, a school spokeswoman, said the change is due to the new graduation rate calculation.
“We’ll be reviewing the report and the data that we see and make some decisions based on what we see in the report,” she said.
In Regional School Unit 2, which serves students from Dresden, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Monmouth and Richmond, two of the three district high schools saw their graduation rates drop notably.
Monmouth Academy’s 2008-09 rate was 84.8 percent for 2008-09, down from 94.1 percent in 2007-08. Richmond High School reported 78.8 percent in 2008-09, down from 90.2 percent the previous year. Hall-Dale High School in Farmingdale dipped slightly, to 81.7 percent from 82.3 percent.
“As long as kids are making progress, why do we have to group them by age levels? Why do we have to stigmatize them with four years when it might take six years?” asked Donald Siviski, the RSU 2 superintendent. “Life gives you plenty of challenges and sometimes school gets in the way.”
While Maine reports the cohort graduate rate to the federal government, a 26-member group is at work on a separate graduation rate calculation that Maine can use to meet the objectives laid out in a bill sponsored by Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, and passed by lawmakers earlier this year.
That law requires that Maine reach a 90 percent statewide graduation rate by 2016; the 26-member group will make its recommendation on calculating that rate by Nov. 1.
“I hope we come up with strong recommendations on how we incorporate these five- or six-year students who do graduate so we can accurately paint a picture of what our K-12 system is doing,” Alfond said.
That accurately painted picture might also include counting students who earn GEDs and diplomas through adult education programs into the Maine graduation rate, Alfond said.
Matthew Stone — 623-3811, ext. 435
mstone@centralmaine.com
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12 COMMENTS
frankmargel.com said...
Perhaps twelve years of school isn't necessary. Some kids mature by the time they are ready to drop out of school. The whole twelve years of school thing is a farce! With the information and technology available, it is time to rethink education and reform it to reflect modern technological trends!
July 19, 2010 at 1:44 PM Report abuse
said...
maine should be very pleased with the current graduation rate.in fl.graduation rates for some schools dip to 60% or lower.as for mci,they get a lot of out of state students that are sent to polish up their athletic skills.12 years of education at a minimum is needed.we have dropouts walking around that cannot read or write or communicate vocally.they are unemployable and dangerous.they have cell phones i pods,etc.but cannot add 2 and 2.so much for modern technology solving current social problems.
July 19, 2010 at 2:16 PM Report abuse
LarrySellers said...
LMAO..."unemployable and dangerous", now the unempoyed are dangerous? Elitist lefties kill me with the garbage they spew! Hey Anonymous, I don't think Steve Jobs envisioned the i-phone as a tool to aid in "solving current social problems". It's a freakin phone and the reason the unemployed own them is because of leftist policies that reward them for dropping out of school and becoming unemployable and "dangerous". LMAO, typical leftist mentality: set up a government system that fails on every level and then turn around and try to blame the private sector, in this case technology, for failing to do the job. So much for the the Dept. of Education solving our current education problems. I wonder how many kids drop out of private schools?
July 19, 2010 at 2:29 PM Report abuse
said...
Has anyone found out why they drop out of school ??
July 19, 2010 at 2:33 PM Report abuse
Dee said...
I think it is shameful that 5 out of every hundred children in Maine do not graduate from high school. We spend an inordinate amount of money not to educate our children. Remember that many of those who graduate are uneducated when they graduate. Shame, shame on us.
July 19, 2010 at 2:47 PM Report abuse
said...
sad
July 19, 2010 at 3:55 PM Report abuse
said...
larry major difference between being unemployable and unemployed.
July 19, 2010 at 4:36 PM Report abuse
Anonymous said...
A primary reason they drop out is that they have not been prepared to succeed all the way through to graduation. Many of them started off on the wrong foot by not having families that understand and support school. Attendance becomes an enormous problem and schools are helpless. There is a truancy law on the books but once kids get to be 13 or 14, there is nothing a school can do. Parents are not held to the law as long as they say something like "I tried to get him out of bed and he wouldn't get up" and there are no penalties for the kids. We should have something like other states where the kid can't get a driver's license if he/she is truant. Believe me, most schools are working it as hard as they can to get kids there but some kids just refuse. Their life lessons will teach them differently but it's too late by then.
July 19, 2010 at 7:17 PM Report abuse
Anonymous said...
A primary reason they drop out is that they have not been prepared to succeed all the way through to graduation. Many of them started off on the wrong foot by not having families that understand and support school. Attendance becomes an enormous problem and schools are helpless. There is a truancy law on the books but once kids get to be 13 or 14, there is nothing a school can do. Parents are not held to the law as long as they say something like "I tried to get him out of bed and he wouldn't get up" and there are no penalties for the kids. We should have something like other states where the kid can't get a driver's license if he/she is truant. Believe me, most schools are working it as hard as they can to get kids there but some kids just refuse. Their life lessons will teach them differently but it's too late by then.
July 19, 2010 at 7:17 PM Report abuse
max said...
Is this the same State of Maine department of education that Governor hopeful Paul LePage wants to eliminate? What a dumb idea...so is voting for LePage
July 19, 2010 at 7:20 PM Report abuse
said...
Education is critical, however, we do youth and young adults a wrong when we make it one size fits all. No child grows up with the exact family, genetic and social challenges as another. As a former high School science teacher in Maine, I believe that we should have very strict standards for students, however, the clock should stop for them any time they don't apply themselves. A month, year or decade of time out until they want to be there and get what is offered should be mandatory. It was painful to have 20% of students acting out because they were capable but not "ready to learn" while the other 80% had to put up with their dead weight. A year or two later, some former dropout candidates were more than ready to "do what it takes" to earn their credentials after a few minimum wage jobs, months of couch flopping at (ex) friends apartments and hit between the eyes with the realities of self support. Unfortunately, there are many mentors for SSI and Welfare and this path should be NA.
July 19, 2010 at 8:31 PM Report abuse
The Captain said...
If you want to boost your graduation rate in your high school, get Job's for Maine's Graduates (JMG) in there. JMG is a non-profit outfit that is in 63 Maine schools. JMG students already enjoy a 95% graduation rate-that's significantly higher than the rest of the population. JMG works for ME.
July 20, 2010 at 8:11 AM Report abuse