Officials Expect Improved Graduation Rate

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By Aaron Collier

After the graduation rate in Hamilton County dipped to 70.9 percent in 2009 — down 4.2 percent from 2007 — school officials are expecting a significant jump in the district’s graduation rate this year as a result of new programs and initiatives.

Based on school records, the district has projected the 2009/2010 graduation rate to have increased by more than 5 percent — the largest single increase in five years. However, the graduation rate will not be officially released until November when Hamilton County receives its state report card, said Danielle Clark, director of communications for Hamilton County schools.

The graduation rate is defined as the percentage of students who enter the 9th grade and graduate within four years plus one summer, said Gloria Moore, supervisor of humanities. Moore said the graduation rate does not include students who earn a Special Education Diploma or GED. She also said that until this year, the state did not count graduates of Hamilton County High — an alternative program serving older students who drop out of their zoned school.

In the past, Hamilton County’s graduation rate has consistently lagged behind the state average, which was over 12 percent higher than Hamilton County’s in 2009.

In an effort to address the faltering graduation rate, last year the school system developed new programs aimed at reversing the drop out rate and helping students stay on track despite academic setbacks. A new On Track Graduation Team monitors indicators and focuses on kids getting in academic trouble early on, said Moore.

Moore also said that the district piloted new software-based programs that help students recover credits, or retake parts of courses without retaking entire classes. The method is known as credit recovery, and it allows students who have failed a class to retake only the parts of a curriculum that were not learned the first go around.

The district has also launched the Graduation Completion Program in partnership with Chattanooga State Community College. The program is software-based with two instructors, and it can handle as many as 50 students at a time for four hours out of the day. The program started in February, and as a result, 28 of the 33 students who enrolled graduated on time, Moore said.

The Graduation Completion Program has a two-year cost of $330,000, which is matched by Chattanooga State. Other programs are funded by a combination of Title II — federal funding for schools with a majority of economically disadvantaged students — Race to the Top funding and Extended Contracts.

Through Race to the Top funds, the district will continue developing an On Track Student Indicator system to track student progress and to require educators to use real-time electronic data for instructional decision making.

For many schools, improving the graduation rate is key to avoiding state intervention. The graduation rate plays a major role in AYP, or Annual Yearly Progress, which is each school’s benchmark for meeting academic requirements. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are given safe harbor if they make significant progress while not meeting AYP. However, if a school does not meet its targeted graduation rate, it will not be afforded any leeway.

“If you don’t make graduation rate, you cannot make safe harbor,” Moore said.

She said the system-wide goal for all schools in Hamilton County is 89.5 percent by 2014, and each school’s annual target is a statistical calculation based on the difference between it’s graduation rate in 2002 and the system-wide goal for 2014.

But with last year’s overhaul of curriculum standards came tougher graduation requirements, including an additional math credit and science credit for every student who would graduate in 2014.