Kentucky Board Of Education

Kentucky graduation rate likely to drop as state uses new way to calculate

The Kentucky Department of Education will release the latest report on Kentucky's high school graduation rate this week, and officials say the numbers will be lower than in previous years.

That doesn't necessarily mean fewer Kentucky students are finishing high school. Rather, education officials say, it reflects a different method of computing the rate of graduations.

The most recent available Kentucky graduation rate, for the 2008-09 school year, was 83.91 percent.

"You can expect this new rate to be a lower number than that," Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the state education department, said last week. "I wouldn't say you'll see a 20- or 30-point drop. But you might see a 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, maybe 8-point drop.

"However, you really can't compare the numbers with previous years because they're based on a different way of calculating the rates."

Kentucky will use that computational method this year and next year before adopting a new, uniform national system for calculating graduation rates starting in the 2013-14 school year. Many states will start using that system this year, but Kentucky isn't ready.

It's all part of a general move toward a more accurate measurement of high school graduation rates across the country, and educators predict many states will see their rates fall sharply as the new system goes into effect.

Accurately knowing high school graduation rates is crucial as a measure of how well the education system is doing in keeping students in school.

In earlier years, states used various methods for computing their graduation rates. And critics often contended that many states employed formulas that undercounted the number of school dropouts, artificially inflating their graduation results.

Liz Utrup, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, recently told The Associated Press that graduate-rate numbers probably will go down "across the board" as states adopt the new uniform system.

"Through this uniform method, states are raising the bar on data standards and simply being more honest," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the AP.

According to Gross, Kentucky previously computed its graduation rates by totaling the number of high school graduates in a given year, then considering the number of students who dropped out of school during the previous four years and certain other factors.

The report that will be released Tuesday for the 2009-10 school year will be based on what's called an "averaged freshman graduation rate," according to Gross. It's intended to provide a clearer picture of graduation rates while meeting requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Board members complete comprehensive orientation | Kentucky Teacher

Three members of the Kentucky Board of Education, Roger Marcum, Jonathan Parrent and Mary Gwen Wheeler, recently completed three days of intensive training to help new board members become highly effective state education policymakers. The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) provided the training. Marcum, Parrent and Wheeler joined state board members from 20 states and territories in sessions that covered basic boardsmanship issues such as the responsibilities of boards and their members; the sequence of policy development; and using Robert’s Rules of Order as well as more advanced subjects such as how to provide effective state leadership through board actions.

“State board members who are well-informed and empowered are critical to the successful development and application of education policy and standards at the state level,” said NASBE Executive Director Brenda Welburn. “We laud the efforts of these volunteer leaders who give their time, energy and expertise to their states, and we work to support them not only at the outset of their education policymaking careers, but throughout their service.”

State boards of education are responsible for setting statewide educational standards, including high school graduation requirements and establishing statewide testing programs.

The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America’s state and territorial boards of education. NASBE exists to strengthen state boards as the preeminent educational policymaking bodies for citizens and students. For more information, go to www.nasbe.org .

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