Graduation rates: Charters beat state average

Last year, charter schools posted a graduation rate of 86.1 percent, compared to the statewide average of 82.5 percent.

Here are some interesting facts about charter school graduation rates:

• The state reported graduation rates for 29  of the state’s 107 charter schools
• 15 of 29 charters graduated over 90 percent of their students on time
• 18 of 29 charters had graduations rate that was higher than the state average
• Lake Norman Charter School had the largest graduating class – 193 students.  The school had a 100 percent graduation rate
• Haliwa-Saponi Tribal Charter School had the smallest graduating class – 7 students.  The school had a 42.9 percent graduation rate
• Among the five charter schools with the lowest graduation rates, none had more than 35 students eligible to graduate in 2013

I calculated the charter school graduation rate in the same way that the state calculates the statewide rate as described here (PDF).  Just as the state rate is not the average of the district or school rates, the overall charter rate is not the average of each charter school rate.