State’s high-school graduation rate climbs

Overall, graduation rates for the class of 2015 resulted in Florida achieving a 12-year high, according to data from the state department of education. The district’s increase from 2014, when the graduation rate was 75.7 percent, is reflective of a strong upward trend that has seen the School District of Manatee County’s graduation rate climb by 13.2 percentage points since 2011.

In a statement, the school district said 78.1 percent of students graduated in the 2014-2015 academic year. Rates jumped by 1.7 percentage points in 2014 and have increased by more than 18 percentage points since the 2003-2004 school year. The percentage of graduates in St. Johns has grown by 2.7 percentage points over the last and 4.7 percent since 2010-11. The graduation rate for Manatee District in 2015 was 77.9 percent, just above the statewide graduation rate of 77.8 percent.

Despite tension between educators and policymakers over changes to the state’s accountability system-from how to score the new assessment to tweaking the grading model-Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said the latest graduation numbers are evidence of a public education system that is working.

“Especially when you’re in a small school district like ours, it could be a handful of students who could drop your rate from over 90, to under 90 percent”, she says.

South Florida’s high schools are doing a better job of graduating their students, new data shows.

In Martin County, a slight increase kept graduation rates well above the state norm, the Department of Education reported. At six of the county’s 19 traditional high schools, the graduation rates dropped or remained the same in 2015.

School district officials credited the county’s continued progress – up from 77.9 percent in 2014 – to expanded efforts to target students on an individual basis.

Florida’s Hispanic graduation rate has been a specific point of pride for the state, with Hispanics’ graduation rates soaring in recent years.

Cynthia Saunder, deputy superintendent of instruction and the district’s former executive director of secondary schools, said the district – through principal and guidance counselors – has been focusing on making sure students and parents know all the options available to earn a diploma. Hispanic students graduated at a rate of 77.9 percent in 2015, up 4.3 percentage points and 1.2 points above the state average.

Non-graduates include students who have been retained and are still in school, received certificates of completion or received GED-based diplomas.