Grad rates to fall

Jay County High School’s graduation rates are going to go down.

So will those of other high schools across the state.

And there’s little that teachers, students, administrators or parents can do about it.

The drop is a result of the Every Student Succeeds Act, a law passed last year by Congress to replace No Child Left Behind.

“You have to comply with their requirements,” Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley said in a recent interview. “It’s caused some confusion in Indiana. There will be a very quick reduction in high school graduation rates as calculated by the U.S. Department of Education. … It will also impact all of Indiana’s high school letter grades.”

Superintendents across the state and Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick have decried the changes, saying the “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work.

“We’re looking at a pretty big hit to the graduation rate here and statewide,” said Gulley.

The new law requires that graduation rates be based upon the type of diploma received by “a preponderance” of students. In Indiana, that means only the academic honors diploma and the Core 40 diploma would count. Students receiving a general diploma would not be factored into the graduation rate.

“The student’s diploma is still valid,” Gulley said, “but they would not count in our letter grade.”

The change is particularly frustrating for JCHS, which has worked over the past several years to boost its graduation rate and is above the state average.

“We’re right around 95 percent now using all three of those diplomas,” said Gulley. The state average is about 90 percent.

Trouble is, about 27 percent of JCHS students graduate with the general diploma. Statewide about 8,000 students receive the general diploma each year; none of those will count toward the state’s graduation rate under the new requirements.

“I don’t like the message that sends to students,” Gulley said. “This has a negative connotation.”

He expressed particular concern for special education students “who have found success in the general diploma.” The new requirements are shaped around diplomas for students who are going on to four years of higher education, he noted.

There’s also a potential fiscal impact to the change because graduation rates are a factor in federal grants for schools.

McCormick has written the U.S. Department of Education protesting the new requirements and arguing that the move is counter-intuitive when there’s a need for vocational education and workforce development that doesn’t involve college.

“We’ll see what comes out of the dialogue” between the state and the federal government, said Gulley. “I’m still going to report the success of our kids, not necessarily rely on labels put on us by politicians.”