State confirms dismal high school graduation rates

Statewide and locally, two out of five students not earning a diploma

By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer

The North Carolina Board of Education released new, more accurate graduation rates Wednesday afternoon after school watchdog groups and other education entities complained that its previous reporting methods were inaccurate and misleading.

The report, called the “2006 4-Year Cohort Graduation Rates,” shows the percentage of 2002-03 freshmen who actually earned a diploma in the spring of 2006 – four years later.

The results are dramatically different, as reported in The News Reporter two weeks ago.

Statewide, only 68.1 percent of freshmen are graduating.

Broken down by the No Child Left Behind sub-groups, 72.4 percent of females graduate while 63.9 percent of males earn a diploma.

Only 74.1 percent of Asians, 60 percent of blacks and 51.8 percent of Hispanics graduate.

The graduation rate for multi-racial students is 65.2 percent. For Native Americans, the rate is 51.1 percent and for whites, it’s 73.6 percent.

Economically disadvantaged students have a 55.2 percent graduation rate. Students who have limited English proficiency have a 54.6 percent rate.

Only half of students with disabilities (49.9 percent) earn a diploma.

The report showed that only 62.6 percent of the Columbus County Schools’ students are earning a diploma – an effective drop out rate of 37.4 percent.

The Whiteville City Schools were only slightly better with a graduation rate of 64.1 percent or a drop out rate of 35.9 percent.

Ironically, Brunswick and New Hanover counties, which typically score higher than Columbus and Whiteville on SAT, End-of-Grade and End-of Course tests, also graduate fewer students,

Only 56.9 percent of Brunswick’s students are graduating. In New Hanover County, 60.4 percent are earning a diploma.

The highest graduation rate in the state belongs to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools – 90.2 percent.

That’s a community with a high percentage of parents who work as education professionals at the numerous colleges and universities in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.

No other system broke 90 percent.

The only systems to break 80 percent were Alleghany, Catawba, Cherokee, Davie and Wake counties and the Mount Airy and Elkin city schools.

The lowest graduation rates could be found in Weldon City (47 percent), Hoke County (47.1), Pasquotank County (48.2), Hertford County (48.9) and Vance County (47.8),

The lowest graduation rate in the state belongs to Lexington City Schools where only two out of five freshmen graduate. Its graduation rate is 43.7 percent.

Statewide, 34 school systems had graduation rates from 70 to 79 percent. Fifty-six systems were in the 60 to 69 percent range.

Only 20 high schools had graduation rates of 90 percent or better. Many of them were specialized or charter schools.

Twenty-one schools graduated fewer than 40 percent of their students. Many of these were specialized or alternative schools.

When broken down by school, West Columbus High School had the highest graduation rate – 68 percent – followed by Whiteville High School (67.6 percent), South Columbus High School (66.1 percent) and East Columbus High School (55.7 per-cent.)

In a statement released Wednesday, State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee said, “High school graduation is a primary measure of school success.

The high school gradua-tion rate has been a long-standing problem in North Carolina and in the United States.

“Our rate is not where we want it to be, but we welcome today’s information to help us clearly see the challenges ahead and to affirm the importance of the high school reform agenda in North Carolina as we continue working toward a day when all North Carolina students will graduate from high school ready for success in the 21st Century.”

While 68 percent is the current four-year cohort graduation rate, the state said that does not mean that 32 percent of the students have dropped out of school.

The report noted that a total of 5,413 students (of the 103,441 in the state) were known to still be enrolled in high school at the end of the year and did not receive a diploma.

It went on to say given that approximately 15 percent of ninth graders are retained each year, some of those students likely will graduate in five years or more.