New graduation rate formula leaves out gains at Aurora schoools

Local gains in high school graduation rates aren’t easy to find in new data released by the Colorado Department of Education earlier this week.

Officials from the Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek School districts say graduation rates rose in the 2009-10 school year compared to 2008-09; both districts reported a rise of more than 3 percent. At APS, for example, overall graduation rates rose by 3.3 percent to more than 58 percent, a boost that reverses the downward trend from the past decade.

But district officials from both APS and Cherry Creek say the increases aren’t reflected in new statistics from the CDE, data that uses a new formula to define graduation rates according to “on-time” completion, or students who graduate from high school in four years. 

The new formula was established by the U.S. Department of Education, and allows local districts to compare their numbers to totals from across the country.

Still, the new system’s narrow focus has local educational leaders concerned. At APS, more than 20 percent of the students from the graduating class of 2009-2010 are still enrolled, working toward their degrees through alternative and non-traditional programs.

“We (use) the years all the way up to the age of 21,” said APS Superintendent John Barry, citing programs like Rebound Ombudsman and Futures that allow students to earn high school diplomas over a five- or six-year period. “You’ve got to look at the whole picture and not just one myopic vision of four years. We have to widen our aperture.”

More than 400 students benefited from such initiatives last year, Barry added.

“Those are 400 students that would not have been able to finish their high school diploma ... They aren’t counted in the (CDE) numbers,” Barry said. “We have a very high percentage of students in poverty, and English language learners ... Some need more than four years. We’re allowing for that in APS, we’re proud of that in APS. We’re counting those as success stories.”

Cherry Creek Superintendent Mary Chesley said the new formula has the potential of minimalizing the district’s efforts to reach students who take longer than four years to finish high school.

“I could immediately say it’s very frustrating that the formula changes. Change in formula causes us to have to say that it’s the formula. There have been so many changes ... I am very concerned that people quit listening bc it is so complex,” Chesley said. “Do I think over time it will be understood? Yes ... (But) we’ve worked so hard to reduce our dropout rates. If you only look at the bottom line, those efforts do get minimized.”

The CDE said Wednesday that the total percentage of Colorado students graduating high school on time is up from last year. For the class of 2010, more than 72 percent of students graduated within four years, up from about 70 percent of the class of 2009, the department said. At APS, the on-time total was 45.5 percent, while Cherry Creek boasted a total of 84.7 percent.

“We’re pleased that it’s above the state average,” Chesley said. “(But) we’re never satisfied until it’s 100 percent.”

Including students who took longer than four years, 74.6 percent of the Colorado class of 2009 graduated high school. So far 73.3 percent of the class of 2010 has finished. The dropout rate was measured at 3.1 percent, down from 3.6 percent the previous school year. That translates to 13,147 seventh- to 12th-graders who left school in the last school year.

The education department’s Office of Dropout Prevention is analyzing state data to better understand how schools can re-engage dropouts. The information is set to be released in March.

Colorado Children’s Campaign President Chris Watney said a disproportionate number of minorities are dropping out, and that too many students overall are leaving school. At both APS and Cherry Creek, an achievement gap persists between white students and Hispanic and black students. At APS, the graduation rate was more than 59 percent for white students, while Hispanic students had a total rate of less than 35 percent and black students showed a total of less than 56 percent. White students in Cherry Creek averaged an 88.2 percent graduation rate, while Hispanics averaged about 69 percent and black students averaged about 78 percent.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.