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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

N.M. Deserves Accurate Graduation Numbers

By Winston Brooks
APS Superintendent
      Students graduating from high school is a BIG DEAL! It has always been a big deal. It's an even bigger deal now with the federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
       When I first came to Albuquerque almost 18 months ago, I was surprised and skeptical at the same time at the low reported graduation rate for the state and more specifically for Albuquerque Public Schools. I have had the opportunity to attend more than 10 graduations in the last two years.
       By what I have seen and by what I professionally know, the graduation rate in New Mexico and in APS is much higher than what is always reported.
       As the old saying goes, “there is more than one way to skin a cat.” The same can be said in that, “there is more than one way to calculate a graduation rate.”
       Yes, I know there are several different methodologies that are used across the country to calculate graduation rates. That's why when the initial report came out this year that the New Mexico graduation rate was slightly higher than 50 percent and the national average is somewhere around 70 percent I didn't get too panicky.
       For example, where I came from (Kansas) there were only two figures that mattered when looking at graduation rates and they were graduation and dropout rates. The two added together equal 100 percent. That's not the case in New Mexico.
       We had a “preliminary” reported graduation rate in APS of 46 percent; however our dropout rate was 18 percent. Forty-six and 18 doesn't equal 100, it equals 64. So what happened to the other 36 percent? Good question. In APS we had 22 percent of our students who were still in school (neither a graduate nor a dropout.) Moreover, we had 14 percent of our students who transferred to other schools. Now 46 plus 18 plus 22 plus 14 percent does equal 100.
       Let's consider that the Public Education Department's preliminary rate of 46 percent is now more like 60 percent. So, if we apply the numbers we know 60 percent graduated, 18 percent dropped out, 22 percent are still in school. Now we get 100 percent. When you consider that 60 percent graduated and 22 percent are still in school, the numbers actually exceed the national average of 70 percent.
       So, what is the point of all this? It is not that I and the district are trying to spin the numbers. The point of all this is that graduating from high school is a BIG DEAL; and given just how BIG it is, we owe it to our students, our parents, our community and our state to get it right.
       Yes, we need to acknowledge that we have much work to do, 68 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent is not good enough.
       Yes, we need to acknowledge that our lowest performing subgroups are Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanics and that those groups also have the lowest graduation rate. Given that the majority of students in APS are Hispanic and they have one of the lowest graduation rates, it is a BIG deal.
       We in APS must do better, and we in New Mexico must do better educating our most precious resource, our students.
       Finally, let me state that to misreport a graduation rate and a lower rate than what is now being reported is harmful to our students, our parents and our communities. The Albuquerque community relies upon a strong and vibrant pre-K-to-20 education system to cultivate a strong local economy. Misreporting a lower graduation rate does nothing to help the local and state economy.
       Graduation is a BIG DEAL!! From Taos to Roswell and everywhere in between our kids and our teachers deserve a fair and accurate calculation of graduation rate.
       

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