State Releases Graduation Data; DMPS Five-Year Rate Increases

The Iowa Department of Education today released graduation data, including the four-year rate for the Class of 2011 and the five-year rate for the Class of 2010. While figures show a slight decline in the four-year graduation rate both state-wide and locally, the five-year rates increased, including nearly a six percent increase in the five-year graduation rate for Des Moines Public Schools.

The most recent graduation data from the Iowa Department of Education show an increase in the percentage of students who were able to graduate high school within five years. State-wide, the five-year graduation rate for the went from 90.5% for the Class of 2009 to 91.8% for the Class of 2010.

The five-year graduation rate for Des Moines Public Schools increased by nearly six percent last year. A total of 82.88% members of the Class of 2010 graduated within five years (i.e. received their high school diploma by 2011); that is up from 76.97% of students in the Class of 2009 who graduated within five years.

State figures do show a small decline in the percentage of Iowa high school students who graduate in four years, with a state-wide graduation rate of 88.3% for the Class of 2011 compared to 88.8% for the Class of 2010. The state-wide graduation rate for the Class of 2009 was 87.3%.

Des Moines Public Schools also saw a decline in the overall four-year graduation rate last year. The graduation rate for the Class of 2011 was 75.68% compared to a rate of 78.48% for the Class of 2010. The 2011 rate is above the Class of 2009, which had a graduation rate of 72.7%.

“Anything short of 100% means we have work to do in order to make sure every student is best prepared for their next stage in life. The fact is Des Moines – like Iowa and the nation – continues to face an achievement gap among too many students who are minority or live in poverty, and we cannot lose sight of resolving that issue,” said Superintendent Nancy Sebring. “At the same time, the effort to help more and more students graduate – even if it takes extra time – is showing success. We have put a lot of energy into our credit recovery programs, so that a student who needs extra time to graduate has the support to earn a high school diploma.”

In the Fall of 2009, Des Moines Public School implemented the Early Indicator System (EIS) to help identify students who may be at risk of dropping out of school. The EIS tracks attendance, class performance, and discipline/behavior issues at the elementary and secondary levels. Each school’s Academic Support Lab helps serve the students who are identified through the EIS as at-risk for dropping out of school.

The five-year graduation rate for the Class of 2010 at Des Moines’ five comprehensive high schools – East, Hoover, Lincoln, North and Roosevelt – was 85.49%, compared to 83.09% for the Class of 2009. The four-year graduation rate for the Class of 2011 at Des Moines’ five comprehensive high schools was 79.11%, compared to 82.11% for the Class of 2010.

The following tables show the recent five-year and four-year graduation rates for Des Moines high schools:

Overall, in terms of numbers, there were a total of 2,011 students in the Class of 2011 (counted as students who began high school as ninth graders in the fall of 2007); 1,522 of those students graduated in four years. By comparison, there were 2,003 students in the Class of 2010; 1,572 of those students graduated in four years.

In addition, the grade 7-12 dropout rate for Des Moines Public Schools remained at 4.8%, which is unchanged from 2010 to 2011. The dropout rate in 2009 was 5.1%. The grade 9-12 dropout for 2010-11 is 7.2%, slightly higher than 2009-10 and below 2008-09.

This is the third year that Iowa graduation rates have been calculated with a new formula established by the U.S. Department of Education. Unique student identification numbers are assigned to ninth-grade students, allowing school districts to carefully account for all ninth graders as they move through high school. At the state level, the method helps determine when a student graduates, even if the student has moved to a different district in Iowa during high school.