Some additional bits of information:
? Only 44.7 percent of schools made Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind. The remaining 55.3 percent had one or more subgroups (race, socioeconomic, disability) that did not meet state testing standards.
? The four year (cohort) graduation rate was 68.3 percent. The five year (cohort) graduation rate, reported for the first time, was 70.3 percent. That means that nearly 30 percent of students entering the ninth grade in 2002 did not graduate in five years. Students with disabilities (53.5 percent) and Hispanic students (55.2 percent) had the lowest five year graduation rate.
? A clarification on the drop in high school test scores. While “higher” standards may account for the drop off in proficiency in Algebra and English, such a sharp decline indicates that the bar was set pretty low in the first place.
? The bottom line is that 1/3 of our elementary and middle school students are not proficient in reading and math. Well over half of the black students in the state are not proficient in reading and math. This is nothing to be proud of.
