COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- New data released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Education shows the statewide on-time graduation rate is 72.4 percent. Compared to last year's number of 70.4, the graduation rate is up slightly using a new four-year formula.
The new formula, which is part of the 'No Child Left Behind,' defines 'on-time' as only those students who graduate from high school four years after entering ninth grade. In the old system, students who took more than four years to graduate were included in the formula.
This is the first year the state is using the new formula, so data from previous years can not be directly compared with 2010 rates. However, the 70.4 percent rate from 2009 is what the rate would have been using the formula.
Statewide the numbers are improving, but in Colorado Springs the numbers are rocky.
District 20's on-time graduation rate is 89.5 percent, which is good. However, District 2's on-time graduation rate is 67 percent and District 11's on-time graduation rate is 65 percent.
"It's not a number we're proud of or pleased with, it's a number we need to improve on," Mike Poore, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction, Curriculum & Student Services for District 11, said.
School officials in both District 2 and 11 are unhappy with their low numbers but said they have challenges other districts don't. Those challenges include the highest poverty level in Colorado Springs and some of the highest number of free and reduce lunch rates.
Poore said District 11 is focusing on individual student attention to boost their on-time graduation numbers. Meanwhile, District 2 is focusing on 'College Ready, Career Ready,' and they're making graduation rates the main focus on their five-year plan.
"All the things that we're doing, some of them were started two ,three years ago," Janeen Demi-Smith, Executive Director of Assessment, Enrollment & Research Office for District 11, said.
Once the new academic changes are accounted for, both districts believe their on-time graduation rates will make the grade.
There are some smaller school districts in the area that performed well. Lewis-Palmer District 38 had a 90 percent graduation rate, Manitou Springs District 14 posted a 97 percent graduation rate, Cheyenne Mountain District 12 had a 94 percent rate, and 95 percent of students graduated in Peyton District 23.
Reporter: Sade Malloy
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