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Phila. Graduates 55.5% of Freshmen: A New Study Says the U.S. Average is 70% for Finishing High School With a Diploma

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 03:00 CDT

By Martha Woodall, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jun. 21--New Jersey graduates a higher percentage of students from high school than any other state in the country -- 84.5 percent.

Pennsylvania's 79 percent rate exceeds the national average of 70 percent.

But only 55.5 percent of ninth graders in Philadelphia's public schools get through senior year and graduate.

Those are some of the findings of a national report on high school graduation released yesterday by the nonprofit Editorial Projects in Education Research Center in Washington.

Nationwide, the center's researchers estimate that 1.2 million students -- 30 percent of students who entered high school as the Class of 2006 -- failed to graduate this academic year.

"Our research paints a much starker picture of the challenges we face in high school graduation," said Christopher B. Swanson, research center director. "When 30 percent of our ninth graders fail to finish high school with a diploma, we are dealing with a crisis that has frightening implications for our country's future."

Paul Vallas, chief executive of the Philadelphia School District, acknowledged that the district has "a long way to go."

"The 55.5 percent is two years old, so I don't know what it would be now. If there is one thing that is certain, it's that the graduation rate is climbing... . But whether it's 55 percent or 68 percent, it is still too damn low."

Philadelphia has the 24th-lowest graduation rate among the 50 largest districts in the study. Detroit has the lowest percentage, 21.7 percent, and Fairfax County, Va., the highest at 82.5.

Swanson and other researchers said there are alarming gaps in high school completion rates between white students and minority students.

Although 70 percent of students nationwide graduated at the end of the 2003 academic year with a traditional diploma, the rate was 51.6 percent for African American students and 55.6 percent for Latinos.

Male students fared worse than female students. A gap of 8 percentage points separated the girls from the boys across all racial categories.

The center did not include GEDs in its formula because researchers have concluded that General Educational Development certificates do not measure up to high school diplomas.

The study is designed to more accurately calculate how many students are graduating from high school. Its numbers are based on what the research center calls a "cumulative promotion index." It uses information reported by school districts to the U.S. Department of Education for 2002-03, the most recent available.

For all states but one, the graduation rates shown in this report are lower than what the states have reported because the states use a variety of methods to calculate how many students who begin ninth grade finish four years later.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that states report this information each year but allows each state to decide how to calculate it.

As a result, both Pennsylvania and New Jersey show higher graduation rates in their state numbers.

Pennsylvania reported an 87 percent high school graduation rate last year to the federal government. New Jersey reported a rate of 89 percent last year.

Philadelphia saw 68.57 percent of its ninth graders go on to graduate last year, according to the state's calculation.

"I have always felt the state's numbers are inflated," Vallas said. He endorsed the group's methods as more accurate than what the states use.

Researchers in Philadelphia who are wrapping up a long-term project say the 55.5 percent graduation rate that the center calculated for the district is "in the ballpark" with their study, which tracked individual students from 2000 for several years. The study by the Philadelphia's Youth Transitions Collaborative -- which includes the school district, the University of Pennsylvania, and other groups -- is expected to be released in early September.

Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania are moving toward giving every student an identification number to allow for tracking throughout the student's school career. In the meantime, both states are working with the National Governors' Association to make data collection among the states more uniform.

New Jersey, which requires students to pass state tests to graduate, plans to focus on improving graduation rates for low-income and minority students.

"Our goal has been to ensure we are preparing all of our students for careers in the new global economy as well as for post-secondary education," said Jay Doolan, an acting assistant commissioner in NewJersey's Department of Education.

Michael Storm, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said that no matter how graduation rates were tallied, the state needed to improve.

"Unless we have 100 percent," he said, "we are not pleased."

As part of a broad high school reform initiative, Gov. Rendell is seeking to nearly double the funding for Project 720, which upgrades high school curriculums. He has also asked for more money for dual enrollment programs that allow students to earn college credit while in high school, Storm said.

The report, which is the first in a planned annual Graduation Project series, was prepared with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which finances a wide range of education projects.

Contact staff writer Martha Woodall at 215-854-2789 or at martha.woodall@phillynews.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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