The Mississippi Department of Education issued the following statement.
The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) released today the high school graduation rates for the 2016-17 school year, which show that the state’s graduation rate has reached an all-time high of 83 percent. Mississippi’s rate is just one point shy of the national graduation rate of 84 percent.
The graduation rate for students with disabilities also increased, to 36.4 percent from 34.7 percent the previous school year.
Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education, said school districts have implemented multiple ways for students to earn a diploma, and that parents, teachers and administrators should be proud of the class of 2017’s significant achievement.
“I congratulate our school districts for ensuring that students are completing high school successfully, so they can pursue their goals in college, postsecondary training, the military or workforce,” Wright said. “A diploma is key to success in life after high school.”
The drop-out rate dipped for the fourth consecutive year to 10.6 percent from 13.9 percent in 2014 percent as school districts worked to help students to stay in school.
The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) approved new diploma options that will go into effect in the 2018-19 school year that will give students the opportunity to earn an endorsement with their high school diploma and will provide the majority of students with disabilities an opportunity to earn a traditional diploma.
The new diploma options include a traditional diploma for all students and an alternate diploma option for students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. Students will also have the opportunity to earn additional requirements to qualify for a traditional diploma with a Career and Technical Education (CTE) endorsement, an academic endorsement or a distinguished academic endorsement. Students can earn more than one endorsement.
Graduation rates for 2016-17 will be reflected in the accountability ratings for the 2017-18 school year. View the 2018 Graduation Rate Report at mdereports.mdek12.org.
18 comments:
And the quality of those additional graduates has also increased? Me thinks not.
I can't help but suspect that the numbers are (and have been in previous years) massaged slightly.
The results of everyone gets a participation trophy.
There are a lot of things the MDE and the Education Bureacracy get wrong. This is one of the things that they have gotten right - with a nudge from the Governor and the Legislature. Schools have focused on reducing absences which has a strong correlation to reducing drop out rates. The new diploma options match MS up with most of the rest of the country. It gives a much more apples to apples comparison.
11:18 I hope you are on your lunch break at the Dept of Education while trolling the internet.
The problem with these stats (as well as so many others we see) is that it violates the rule of Ceteris Paribus (i.e., "all other things equal/remain the same"). When multiple variables are used, definitive cause/effect cannot be ascertained. While this statistic is mildly encouraging, it only has merit if the qualifications for graduation have not also been tweaked. In short - tell me that the standards remain as they were while raising the rate of graduation, and I will appropriately show my approval.
11:18 This is a complete lie. Absences are chronic and statistically significant throughout K-12 and worse in higher education. Two K-12 teachers recently related that a student had missed three (3) solid weeks of class, and was allowed to complete three (2) DAYS worth of classwork to "make-up" for the absences. This practice is rampant throughout the educational system. Administrators engage in unified bullying for everyone to keep their mouths shut or else. FUNDING is tied to COMPLETIONS of degrees......so guess what? Oh they're going to complete alright, no matter what work they do or don't do. To answer 12:49: Standards have in fact NOT remained....they have been LOWERED so everyone can get across that finish line regardless of the work they did/didn't do. Just keep them moving, and keep the funding up. It's all a racket. Perhaps the feds can begin to start asking questions....and doing audits. Pickering certainly doesn't have the backbone to upset that apple cart. Play Ball!
1. Using an anecdote of one student to apply to the whole? We call that a Type II Error in stats (look it up).
2. Standards have increased and gotten harder as required by the Legislature and Feds--ask any local superintendent.
3. Graduation rates = 9th grader graduation in four years. Even you dumba$$es can do that math.
Mississippi education IS IMPROVING so stop hating. More students with a high school degree is good.
"The new diploma options match MS up with most of the rest of the country."
"New Diploma Options"? That, alone, sounds pretty suspect.
7:36 Let's make an analogy that you might understand. How many generals/colonels/majors have had NO idea WHAT in the HELL was actually happening in the field of battle? Ask the soldiers who are there.....and most of those rear field generals don't really even want to know what's happening on the front lines, because their ass will be on chopping block.
Are these figures based on graduates with 12th grade level in all courses? I don't believe that is possible from what I see crossing my desk. I see letters, emails, pleadings etc. with spelling and grammar errors every day. Also, misuse of words. When will Americans learn the difference in affect and effect; your and you're; their, there and they.
It is pathetic how little is expected of high school, college and professional graduates when it comes to our language. The way a person expresses thoughts is a mirror to that person's educational background.
This era of social promotion and graduation has to stop. It's bad enough that the liberal politicians want to bring illiterate untrained people in to the U. S. for us to house, clothe and feed. If our own citizens cannot express themselves then where will we be in 25 years?
Many are functionally illiterate. And now thousands are being allowed to get COLLEGE English credit, for pennies mind you, WHILE they're still in high-school - Dual Enrollment is all the rage, and it's really just to accelerate the "completions" so the funding doesn't slow down. Mississippi's student by and large are not getting an education at all, and it's not about money. Sometimes "failing" a grade is a learning experience that is necessary to internalize what is needed to find the grit to get the work done. Mississippi's educational system is merely an activities based conveyor belt without checking for any mastery of any subject, much less any maturity or discipline. NOW they've even eliminated the exit exam - believe it - all that is wanted is KEEP MOVING THEM toward the graduation line regardless of ZERO skills or knowledge acquisition, so long as the funding doesn't stop.
Any ANYONE explain what this statistic REALLY means in terms of educational proficiency?
The reason they want to get rid of the exit exam is because too many students can not pass it.
We keep hearing teachers have to teach how to pass the test. That is bullshit. If a teacher is any good at teaching their subject the students would know the answers to the test. If the teacher has to teach to pass a test it just shows they are a failure at teaching their subject.
9:57am That's been the narrative for far too long.....how about asking is the STUDENT even studying? Because they aren't. NOTHING is expected of the snowflakes for fear of a parent complaining.....so they are just promoted along while everyone keeps quiet. When I was growing up, my mother and father might have slapped be and said, "Quit your whining and complaining." Today, these kids are given anything/everything they want without effort just to keep them "happy". They are not learning anything except how to text faster.
Just because someone has a college degree does NOT mean they are educated.
Kenneth Stokes.
HD Matthias: Have you considered demanding someone call you to 'discuss at length'?
First dodge-ball. Then God. Now tests. In short order public K-12 will be nothing more than a full blown extension of Head-Start day care.
In the early end of this pipeline, everybody gets a book-satchel, a toothbrush and an apple. After fourteen years, show up and you get a diploomer. And a map to where to register to vote.
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