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Clayton Graduation Rate Declines Slightly Under New Formula

The new method for calculating graduation rates is aimed at allowing for performance comparisons among Missouri, Kansas and Illinois.

and high schools have started calculating graduation rates using a new formula.

In November, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released high school graduation rates calculated using the new method. And while most districts in the state have a much lower rate than in the past as a result of the changes, Clayton isn't among them.

The district had a 99.5 percent graduation rate in 2010-11 under the traditional calculation, with 199 graduates and one dropout (199/200 = 99.5 percent). Under the new calculation, the rate for 2010-11 drops one percentage point, to 98.5 percent.

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"We don't really see how that changes our mission," Chief Communications Officer Chris Tennill of the said Wednesday. He said Clayton remains focused on putting a diploma in the hand of every student. The new rules basically say, "'We want you accountable for every kid who walks through the doors as a freshman,'" Tennill said.

At MRH, the difference is greater. The old rate was 92.5 percent, and the new one is 86.3 percent.

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The four-year graduation rate for Missouri was 79.8 percent in the 2010-11 school year under the new calculation method.

The change will allow Missouri to compare its performance to Kansas and Illinois, said Leigh Ann Grant-Engle, assistant commissioner for the Office of Data System Management.

States are required to report graduation rate data to the U.S. Department of Education under the No Child Left Behind legislation, but in the past, states calculated the rates using different methods.

Now, the U.S. Department of Education is requiring all states to report the four-year graduation rate, which measures the percent of students who complete high school in four years.

Students who take longer to graduate or complete a GED aren't counted with their cohort group, and so the district doesn't "get credit" for them.

Currently, Missouri calculates the graduation rate by dividing the number of students who graduated in a given year by the number of graduates plus any dropouts from that class. So this rate would include students who took more than four years to graduate from high school.

Moving to a uniform calculation method allows states to be compared to one another more easily.

In a news release, the U.S. Department of Education calls the new calculation rate "more accurate" because it accounts for students who drop out or don't graduate in four years.

But Grant-Engle suggested that the new rate is not a "correction" of the old rate, adding that it's not appropriate to compare the two numbers. For now, the state intends to publish both rates.

"I believe they are just two different rates," she said. "There are many students that it's appropriate for them to take longer than four years to graduate. I do think (the new rate) is an important rate because it allows us to compare to other states accurately."

The new calculation may help state and district leaders understand characteristics of students who may take longer than four years to graduate.

"It's another way to look at students and see if there is anything we need to provide them to help them graduate in four years," Grant-Engle said.

New "Four Year Graduation Rate" Calculation:

(Graduates / Total number of students in 9th Grade Cohort Group including transfers in, excluding transfers out) x 100

Old Calculation:

(Graduates / (9-12 Cohort Dropouts + Graduates)) x 100


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