Study ranks state 39th in high school graduation rate

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Study ranks state 39th in high school graduation rate
66 percent of freshmen earn diplomas in four years

By GREGORY ROBERTS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The graduation rate for public high school students in Washington ranks 39th among the 50 states, a New York City research institute reports.

According to the study released today by the Manhattan Institute, 66 percent of Washington students who entered high school as freshmen in the class of 2001 earned a high school diploma within the traditional four-year period. The nationwide rate was 70 percent, the study says.

The institute's calculations differ from the official statistics compiled by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, which show a 72 percent "on-time" graduation rate for the class of 2001. State figures show the rate increasing to 79 percent for the class of 2002.

The Manhattan Institute study was commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which also underwrote a study last year that focused on graduation rates for the class of 2001 in Washington state exclusively. That earlier study reported a slightly different graduation rate: 67 percent.

The statistical approaches by the institute and the state are similar in that both try to calculate the percentage of students who enter high school as freshmen and graduate with their class in four years. But methodologies can differ in accounting for population growth or decline over the four years, for example, in the absence of tracking each student individually, which is difficult to do accurately.

In the past, the state has reported the rate at which students starting 12th grade in the fall complete high school the following spring, a number generally higher than the four-year "cohort" graduation rate.

Other highlights of today's Manhattan Institute report include:

The state with the highest graduation rate was North Dakota, with 89 percent. The lowest was Florida, with 56 percent.

Rates were highest in the Midwest (77 percent), followed by the Northeast (73 percent), the West (69 percent) and the South (65 percent).

The graduation rate for white students nationally was 72 percent; for Asian students, 79 percent; for black students, 51 percent; for Hispanic students, 52 percent; and for Native American students, 54 percent.

In Washington, the graduation rate for white students was 69 percent; for Asian students, 77 percent; for black students, 53 percent; and for Hispanic and American Indian students, 48 percent.

The institute also calculated the "college readiness" of the graduates by factoring in high school courses completed and scores on a national reading test. Nationwide, 32 percent of students in the class of 2001 left high school qualified to attend a four-year college, the institute said; in Washington, the rate was 24 percent.

P-I reporter Gregory Roberts can be reached at 206-448-8022 or gregoryroberts@seattlepi.com

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