Last Updated on Tuesday, March 06, 2007 at 5:17 AM
News Release 05-031 -- May 26, 2005
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Data from the 2003-04 school year show that Kentucky's graduation rate among high school seniors increased by two points since the 2002-03 school year -- from 79.15 percent to 81.29 percent.
Kentucky began reporting graduation rate data with the 2000-01 school year to comply with requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Because NCLB requires that graduation rates not include students who received certificates of completion and those who took longer than four years to graduate, a more rigid formula to determine the rates was adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education in 2002.The 2001 and 2002 rates include students who received certificates of completion and those who took longer than four years to graduate. The 2003 and 2004 rates include only those students who finished high school within four years and those students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that allowed more than four years to graduate.
The high school dropout rate was virtually unchanged, moving from 3.34 percent in 2003 to 3.35 percent in 2004. In grades 9-12, 62 more students dropped out in 2004 than in 2003. The highest dropout rates are found in the 11th grade, with 3.89 percent of students dropping out.
The school retention rate -- the percentage of students held back a grade -- decreased slightly, as did the school attendance and percentage of students making a successful transition to adult life rates.
COMPARISONS OF NON-ACADEMIC DATA - STATEWIDE RATES
Attendance
1999-2000 94.19%
2000-01 94.15%
2001-02 94.43%
2002-03 94.31%
2003-04 94.26%
Dropout (grades 9-12)
1999-2000 5.10%
2000-01 4.72%
2001-02 3.93%
2002-03 3.34%
2003-04 3.35%
Graduation
1999-2000 n/a
2000-01 79.72%
2001-02 80.83%
2002-03 79.15%
2003-04 81.29%
Retention
1999-2000 3.97%
2000-01 3.67%
2001-02 3.55%
2002-03 3.38%
2003-04 3.27%
Successful Transition
1999-2000
95.34%
2000-01 95.11%
2001-02 95.67%
2002-03 96.03%
2003-04 96.00%
Today's release of nonacademic data is one component of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). The other two components -- the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) and Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) results -- will be released in September. Reading and mathematics information from the KCCT will be released in August to comply with NCLB mandates.
"This data provides us with invaluable information, particularly at the high school level," said Kentucky Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit. "Ninth grade continues to be an area of particular concern, since the retention rate is highest at that grade level. But, there's good news in the area of successful transition rates -- more of our students are attending college, and the percentage of students who are considered to be successful after high school has nearly doubled since 1993. And, the high school graduation rate is up slightly from 2003.
"Kentucky's participation in the National Governors Association's 'Redesigning the American High School' project, along with recent recommendations by organizations such as the Prichard Committee and support from our legislative leaders, will provide tremendous assistance as we work to help our high schools improve. High school is the culminating learning experience for our students, and it should be meaningful to them and provide them with the skills they need to be successful later."
HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES BY RACE AND GENDER
2000
MALE 6.04%
FEMALE 4.11%
WHITE 4.84%
AFRICAN AMERICAN 7.81%
HISPANIC 6.65%
ASIAN 2.29%
AMERICAN INDIAN 3.23%
OTHER 3.07%
2001
MALE 5.67%
FEMALE 3.73%
WHITE 4.50%
AFRICAN AMERICAN 6.83%
HISPANIC 7.24%
ASIAN 3.26%
AMERICAN INDIAN 5.86%
OTHER 2.98%
2002
MALE 4.63%
FEMALE 3.20%
WHITE 3.78%
AFRICAN AMERICAN 5.52%
HISPANIC 5.96%
ASIAN 2.09%
AMERICAN INDIAN 1.64%
OTHER 2.72%
2003
MALE 3.91%
FEMALE 2.75%
WHITE 3.23%
AFRICAN AMERICAN 4.45%
HISPANIC 4.65%
ASIAN 1.80%
AMERICAN INDIAN 2.08%
OTHER 2.29%
2004
MALE 3.91%
FEMALE 2.77%
WHITE 3.22%
AFRICAN AMERICAN 4.56%
HISPANIC 4.77%
ASIAN 1.73%
AMERICAN INDIAN 5.32%
OTHER 2.50%
Non-academic data is comprised of dropout, graduation, retention, attendance and successful transition to adult life rates. With the exception of graduation rates, which are required under the federal NCLB Act, each rate contributes a specific percentage to a school's overall accountability index.
See complete details on district and school nonacademic data by visiting the Kentucky Department of Education's Web site at http://www.education.ky.gov and clicking on the link under "Headlines."
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