The United States Education Department (USED) approves graduation rate formulas that states use to generate federal reports. USED expects all states to eventually use the Cohort formula. Until the Cohort formula is available for Kentucky, the USED requires Kentucky to use the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR). The AFGR is scheduled to be Kentucky’s graduation rate formula until the cohort graduation rate can be calculated beginning with 2013 graduates.
District Factors Impacting AFGR
The AFGR formula is based on the assumption that membership is consistent over time. The formula does not capture district or community factors that may have caused a loss in population over four years, which negatively impact the AFGR, or a gain in population that impacts positively. These factors are grouped into the following categories: Alternate Programs, Economic Issues, Excluded Completers, Small Student Population and Unstable Student Population. A summary of information provided from 31 districts that have district or community factors that have negatively impacted their AFGR can be found to the right in District Factors Impacting AFGR. For the 2012 AFGR release, a flag has been added to indicate small student populations for districts with fewer than 100 students in the AFGR Average Membership. This list is also included in the District Factors Impacting AFGR document.
Disaggregated Graduation Rates
AFGR allows for the reporting of graduation rates disaggregated by student populations. Graduation rate data is provided by gender and the following student populations: White, African American, Hispanic and Asian.
Data Interpretation Caution
Small student populations may experience significant percentage changes based upon a few students.
The data files you are accessing are based on documentation provided by school districts, and they have been processed by the Kentucky Department of Education. If you have any reason to believe there are inaccuracies in the data you are reviewing, your concerns should be forwarded to the Office of Assessment and Accountability KDE Assessment mailbox at
kdeassessment@education.ky.gov or by phone at (502) 564-9853.