News Brief

01/22/13

High-School Graduation Rate Inches Up

Wall Street Journal (01/22/13) P. A8 Banchero, Stephanie; Fleisher, Lisa

New data from the National Center for Education Statistics says the graduation rate among U.S. high-school students climbed to a 35-year high in 2010. The rate increased 2.7 percent over the prior year to 78.2 percent for students receiving their diploma in four years. Graduation rates have mostly been on the rise over the past decade. According to the report, 71.7 percent of U.S. high school students graduated in four years back in 2000. Robert Balfanz, director of the Everybody Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, says the gains in graduation rates are tied to new state and district strategies, including an intense focus on keeping low-performing 9th graders on track, creating programs to help low-performing students make up courses they flunked, and establishing small high schools to help students feel more connected to teachers.

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