Guidelines

I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following :








Thursday, December 19, 2013

Graduation Rates in Escambia County Part 1: Making Some Progress


Graduation rates in Escambia have risen over the last decade, and we are making steady, forward progress.  In the graphic above, our most recent state letter grades for High Schools are illustrated.  

Our High School grades are calculated utilizing a formula composed of many parts--one of which is the measurement of the progress of the lowest quartile of students year over year.  Two of our High Schools, Tate and Northview, would have received an "A" letter grade were it not for the fact that the lower quartile students from these schools did not make adequate progress last year as measured by assessment tests.  

With respect to graduation rates, the lowest quartile comes into play as well.  A part of the formula that calculates our graduation rate is based upon the on-time, 4 year graduation rate of all students.  Because we have many students who drop out or do not complete High School in 4 years, our overall graduation rate suffers.  So how do other districts, like Duval County and Leon County, with similar demographics and areas of concentrated poverty manage  graduation rates that are 72.1% and 77% respectively- some of the highest in the state?  How do they beat our Escambia county rate by  as much as 12 percentage points?  How do Lake, Marion, Manatee, and St. Lucie (counties of similar sizes) counties beat our rate by significant margins?

We will look at the reasons in part II

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