North Carolina releases cohort graduation rate

Posted Thursday, March 8, 2007

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Raleigh, NC - The North Carolina Cohort Graduation Rate has been released by the State Board of Education. The Cohort Graduation Rate is a new measure, and the 2006 Cohort Graduation Rate is the first time this measure has been collected and reported. The Cohort rate illustrates the percentage of ninth graders that have graduated from high school four years later.

The 2006 rate will illustrate the percentage of the 2002-03 first time ninth graders who graduated from high school by June 30, 2006. The rate will reflect students who transfer into a school on track for a four-year graduation from high school. No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the federal education law approved five years ago, required the reporting of a graduation rate.

Data for Chatham County Schools
School - Denominator - Numerator - Percent
Woods Charter - 23 - 21 - 91.3%
Chatham Central - 141 - 109 - 77.3%
Northwood - 293 - 200 - 68.3%
Jordan Matthews - 195 - 126 - 64.6%
SAGE Academy - 23 - 5 - 21.7%
Chatham County School District - 656 - 440 - 67.1%
NC Total - 103,441 - 70,484 - 68.1%

The North Carolina Cohort Graduation Rate will not reflect students who may take five years to graduate from high school. In future years, the NC Department of Public Instruction hopes to be able to show a five-year graduation rate as well as the four-year cohort rate.

The Chatham County Schools Cohort Graduation Rate for 2006 was 67.1%. The percentage for males was 65.7 while the percentage for females was 68.6. In the No Child Left Behind subgroups the percentage of students graduating with the cohort was: Native American (100.0%), Asian (80.0%), African American (70.5%), Hispanic (37.9%), Multiracial (54.5%), White (72.2%), Economically Disadvantaged (48.3%), Limited English Proficient (40.0%), and Students with Disabilities (55.8%).

The state Cohort Graduation Rate for 2006 was 68.1%. The percentage for males was 63.9 while the percentage for females was 72.4. In the No Child Left Behind subgroups the percentage of students graduating with the cohort was: Native American (51.1%), Asian (74.1%), African American (60.0%), Hispanic (51.8%), Multiracial (65.2%), White (73.6%), Economically Disadvantaged (55.3%), Limited English Proficient (54.6%), and Students with Disabilities (49.9%).

The Annual Dropout Rate should not be confused with the Cohort Graduation Rate. A student who leaves a school, returns and may dropout more than once would be counted in the dropout rate each year in which he/she drops out. A student will only be in the Cohort Graduation Rate once.

Children in North Carolina who are ages seven to sixteen are required by state law to be enrolled in school so that they can be prepared to be useful and productive citizens. The North Carolina State Board of Education has requested that the NC General Assembly change the law to require students to stay in school until age eighteen, and the issue is under study at this time.