October 2008 - Counting on Graduation: An Agenda for State Leadership - The United States is the only industrialized country in the world in which today’s young people are less likely than their parents to have completed high school, Education Trust.
June 18, 2008 - 'Diploma Counts' Brings Clarity to Achievement Gap, Education Needs - The key to Minnesota's future is an effective workforce. The key to creating this workforce is education, and a quality education requires coordination between early education, K-12 and higher education institutions. It also requires a cure for the achievement gap, which keeps a quality education away from some students, Minnesota 2020.
June 4, 2008 - Study: Minn. ranks at bottom for black graduation rate - A new study of nationwide graduation rates shows Minnesota now ranks last among the states for the percent of black students that get high school diplomas. The rate declined by nearly 10 percent between 2002 and 2005, the last year for which data is available, Minnesota Public Radio.
Minnesota has fallen from 31st in the nation in 2002 to
37th in the percentage of black high school students
earning diplomas. (MPR Graphic/Than Tibbetts)
June 4, 2008 - Minnesota's graduation rate is among highest in the United States - At a time when educators nationwide are working to improve graduation rates by raising the mandatory school attendance age, a new study shows that Minnesota's graduation rate is among the highest in the country.... The study also confirms the education chasm between Minnesota's white and minority students. Smaller percentages of minority students graduate from high school than the national average, Star Tribune.
June 4, 2008 - Diplomas Count 2008: Minnesota State Profile - Reports a 12 point discrepancy between the state-reported 90.1% graduation rate and the 78.1% rate based on the NCLB recommended CPI calculation; compares the two graduation rate calculation methods, Education Week.
Minnesota Graduation Profile for the Class of 2005:
[NCLB Recommended Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI)]
| Graduation Rate by Student Group |
Minnesota State Average |
National Average |
|
|
% |
% |
| All Students |
|
78.1 |
70.6 |
| By Gender |
|
|
|
|
Male |
77.3 |
67.8 |
|
Female |
81.2 |
75.3 |
| By Race and Ethnicity |
|
|
|
American Indian/Alaska Native |
40.5 |
50.6 |
|
Asian/Pacific Islander |
69.9 |
81.3 |
|
Hispanic |
41.9 |
57.8 |
|
Black (not Hispanic) |
38.8 |
55.3 |
|
White (not Hispanic) |
83.3 |
77.6 |
| By Gender and Race and Ethnicity |
|
|
| Male |
American Indian/Alaska Native |
36.6 |
45.8 |
|
Asian/Pacific Islander |
63.3 |
77.5 |
|
Hispanic |
‡ |
52.0 |
|
Black (not Hispanic) |
36.2 |
48.2 |
|
White (not Hispanic) |
81.1 |
74.3 |
| Female |
American Indian/Alaska Native |
42.7 |
52.5 |
|
Asian/Pacific Islander |
73.0 |
82.8 |
|
Hispanic |
48.9 |
62.7 |
|
Black (not Hispanic) |
45.5 |
61.3 |
|
White (not Hispanic) |
85.0 |
79.8 |
‡ Value not reported because of insufficient data for reliable estimate.
June 4, 2008 - Diplomas Count 2008 (Main Page) - Examines states' efforts to forge stronger connections between precollegiate and postsecondary education, Education Week.
March 2008 - Snapshots on Minnesota Youth: Graduation Rates - The graduation rate in 2006-07 was 73 percent, calculated as the number of 9th graders enrolled in any school who four years later graduated. Of that same student population, 6.5 percent dropped-out and 14 percent were continuing their high school education beyond four years. Data is missing or unknown for the remaining 6.6% of students, Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Minnesota Department of Education.
|
With the exception of Asian/Pacific Islander students who have a graduation rate of 67.4 percent, the graduation rate for minority students is slightly less than 40 percent. American Indian, Hispanic, and African American students are continuing their high school education beyond four years with rates of 27.4 percent, 24.0 percent and 35.1 percent, respectively. |
 |
January 2008 (Updated) - Understanding High School Graduation Rates in Minnesota - Minnesota has a 40% Black-White Graduation Rate Gap (NCES Common Core of Data, 2002-03 and 2003-04), Alliance for Excellent Education (State Profiles Sources and Notes).
This policy brief takes Minnesota to task for:
-
Not basing AYP Calculations on the National Governors Association's "Compact rate" adopted by the NGA in 2005. Minnesota's graduation rate calculation is based on the Common Core of Data Graduation Leaver Indicator recommended by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the time Minnesota's accountability system was being put together. Minnesota did begin reporting the NGA Compact rate in 2006.
-
Not setting the bar at 100%—Minnesota requires a graduation rate of at least 80%, a standard currently achieved by only 15 states in the nation.
-
-
And, finally, for not using subgroup graduation rates for AYP. This, while true on the surface, is technically not the case since graduation rates are disaggregated for purposes of Safe Harbor—one of the early steps on the path to NCLB doom.
That being said,
How to calculate graduation rates isn't settled. There's something to be said for taking into consideration the efforts of students continuing their education (March 2008, Snapshots on Minnesota Youth, above).
Minnesota has been raising expectations for students by:
| Required Credits |
MN |
U.S. Avg |
| Mathematics |
3 |
2.8 |
| English/language arts |
4 |
3.9 |
| Science |
3 |
2.5 |
| History/social studies |
3.5 |
2.8 |
| Other credits |
8 |
8.3 |
| Total Credits Required: |
21.5 |
20.6 |
Additional Resources
Parents United
Minnesota Department of Education
Twin Cities Compass
Alliance for Excellent Education
America's Promise Alliance
# # #
April 2008 - Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation - Minneapolis ranked 45th out of the Nation's 50 Largest Cities; 17 percent graduation rate gap between urban core and surrounding suburbs, America’s Promise Alliance/EPE Research Center.
June 2007 - Diplomas Count: Ready for What? Preparing for College, Careers, and Life After High School - To earn a decent wage in the United States, young people need to anticipate completing at least some college (Minnesota State Graduation Brief - Minnesota high school graduation rates using the Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI)), Education Week.
September 2006 - Minnesota Education Trends, 2000 to 2005 - Elementary enrollments declining, diversifying; high school graduation rates rise slightly, gaps in graduation rates by race and ethnicity remain large, Minnesota State Demographic Center.
February 2006 - The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School Through College - Academic Intensity Still Matters Most - 95% of students who completed the following courses in high school earned bachelor's degrees, 41% also earned master's, first professional, or doctoral degrees, U.S. Department of Education.
- 3.75 or more courses, English
- 3.75 or more courses, mathematics; highest mathematics of either calculus, precalculus, or trigonometry
- 2.5 or more courses, science or more than 2.0 credits of core laboratory science (biology, chemistry, and physics)
- more than 2.0 courses, foreign languages
- more than 2.0 courses, history and social studies
- 1.0 or more courses, computer science
- more than one Advanced Placement course
- no remedial English; no remedial mathematics
July 2005 - Graduation Counts: A Compact on State High School Graduation Data - An agreement to implement the following recommendations, National Governor's Association:
- begin implementing a standard four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate;
- lead efforts to improve state data collection, reporting and analysis, and link data systems across the entire education pipeline from preschool through postsecondary education;
- take steps to implement additional indicators that provide richer information and understanding about outcomes for students and how well the system is serving them; and
- report annual progress on the improvement of their state high school graduation, completion and dropout rate data.
May 2005 - Postsecondary Expectations and Minnesota’s Graduation Requirements - Compares Minnesota's high school graduation requirements to Minnesota's postsecondary requirements and national research-based recommendations, Minnesota Department of Education.
2005 - Graduation Counts: A Report of the NGA Task Force on State High School Graduation Data - Outlines five task force recommendations states should use to develop a high-quality, comparable high school graduation measure, as well as complementary indicators of student progress and outcomes and data systems capable of collecting, analyzing and reporting the data, National Governor's Association.
October 2004 - Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, concludes, "The more courses students take and the more challenging those courses, the more likely these students will be college ready and will persist to a college degree," ACT Newsroom.
| 