With Graduation Rate Release, RIDE Looks to Expand High School Performance Measures

Published on Friday, April 19, 2019

Class of 2018 Graduation Rate Stays Steady at 84 Percent

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) announced today that the statewide 2018 four-year graduation rate is 84 percent, which is stable compared to 2017 results and represents an 8 percentage point increase since 2010. In addition to the four-year graduation rate, another 7.4 percent of students either earned their GED or were retained in school, representing 91.4 percent of students. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the federal education law, four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates are recognized in the state’s accountability index.

While graduation rate has historically been the primary measure of student performance at the high school level, RIDE recognizes that significant gaps exist between the number of students who score at a college or career ready benchmark on the SAT assessment, and the number of students who graduate.

To call attention to this gap and help drive systems to improve, moving forward, RIDE will shift to simultaneously release the four-year graduation rate with a “Graduate Proficiency” measure to show, by school and district, the percent of students demonstrating proficiency.

“Graduation rate is an important measure of performance that we must pay attention to, but clearly, it does not tell the whole story,” said Ken Wagner, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. “All of our graduates should be proficient. The disconnect between student performance on assessments and the statewide graduation rate underscores the fact that more must be done to properly challenge, engage, and support our students. We hope that, by reporting on additional measures in the future and holding schools accountable for those results, we can have a more honest conversation about how to improve the high school experience for all students.”

At a time when students increasingly need more than just a high school diploma to be competitive, RIDE has also begun emphasizing credentials and learning opportunities that add value to a student’s traditional transcript. Starting with the 2019 accountability release, RIDE will release a “Diploma Plus” measure, demonstrating the percent of students who have earned college credits and credentials while still in high school, including industry credentials through career and technical education (CTE) and college credits earned through dual and concurrent enrollment, the Advanced Course Network, and qualifying scores on Advanced Placement tests. All of these rigorous learning opportunities are part of the Prepare Rhode Island (PrepareRI) portfolio, a statewide strategy to improve youth career readiness.

Both the Graduate Proficiency and Diploma Plus measures will be factored into school Report Cards and the statewide accountability system in 2019. Under ESSA, the updated accountability system also includes a growth measure to highlight schools where students are making significant improvements.

“Like our RICAS results at the end of 2018, the graduation rate is a call to action for educators, for state leaders, and for all of our communities,” said Barbara S. Cottam, Chair of the Rhode Island Board of Education. “These results give a snapshot of how our students and schools are performing. The key now is to take that information and use it to fuel our work moving forward. Rhode Island has laid the foundation for a long-haul journey to improve outcomes for all students, and today’s release is another reminder of why staying the course on a vision that supports teaching and learning is more important than ever.”

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