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Ga. begins reporting 5-year graduation rates
Educators: Emphasis still on 4-year graduation
052513 SEB GRAD 06
Southeast Bulloch High graduates pump their fists and cheer as they graduate from high school in this 2013 file photo. - photo by SCOTT BRYANT/file
When Georgia reported high school graduation rates on Wednesday, the focus was on what’s called the “four-year adjusted cohort rate.”But for the first time as part of its graduation-rate report, the state also reported the “five-year adjusted cohort rate.”This doesn’t mean Georgia or any other state is discarding the notion that students ought to graduate high school within four years. The four-year rate still gets the most emphasis in the accountability systems that rate performance by high schools, districts and the state itself.But the five-year rate does give schools, districts and the state credit for those students who do graduate, even if it takes longer than four years.“We know that not all students are the same and not all will graduate from high school in four years, so we asked for the U.S. Department of Education’s permission to use a five-year cohort graduation rate for federal accountability purposes,” State School Superintendent John Barge said last year, looking ahead to this year’s graduation report. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure each child will graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and a career, regardless of how long it takes.”Actually, the Georgia Department of Education did include the five-year cohort rate when it released the 2012 College and Career Ready Performance Index, or CCRPI, ratings earlier this year.
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