AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine education officials are touting the state’s latest high school graduation rates.

The Department of Education said the state’s overall graduation rate increased in 2011, the latest year for which data is available, jumping from 82.8 percent to 83.8 percent.

The Kennebec Journal reports that at the same time graduation rates fell at half of Maine’s high schools.

The graduation rate is the rate of students who graduate within four years of entering high school.

Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen said in a statement that officials are happy that Maine appears to remain ahead of the national average, but said there is still “considerable” work to do.

The graduation rate for low-income students increased about 2 percentage points but remains lower than the rate for the general population.

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