The state will use the AFGR for the next three years to provide public high school data that will be used for federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability purposes. For the 2009-10 school year, the statewide AFGR was 76.68 percent. (Graduation rate data is lagged by one year for accountability purposes.)
The AFGR enables disaggregation of data, meaning that Kentucky can report rates for males, females and ethnic groups.
*NOTE: The AFGR data for 2007-08 and 2008-09 are provided for comparison purposes. Comparisons between formerly reported graduation rates, which used the Leaver Formula, and AFGR-derived data should not be made due to the differences in those formulas.
NCLB requires that states report graduation rates for high schools and include the data in federal accountability determinations. The AFGR formula for NCLB divides the average of prior years’ 9th- and 10th-grade membership (enrollment) by the number of four-year diploma and more-than-four-year diploma recipients in the current reporting year. Students with disabilities whose Individual Education Plans enable them to take more than four years to obtain a diploma are included in this calculation.
AFGR Formula
The number of ’09-10 graduates with diploma in 4 years +
graduates with diploma allowed 4+ years by IEP, x 100
Divided By
Grade 9 Membership ‘06‐07 School Year +
Grade 10 Membership ’07‐08 School Year, divided by 2
Equals
Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate
To make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for NCLB purposes, schools and districts will be required to meet a goal of 82.32 percent or close the gap between the previous year’s rate by at least 10 percent. The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) approved the interim goal of 82.32 percent as a component of 703 KAR 5:060, the regulation describing the interim assessment process. Graduation goals for reporting in 2012 and beyond must be determined by the KBE during the regulation process for the new assessment system.
Kentucky also is reporting an Adjusted AFGR that will not be used for NCLB accountability purposes. This adjusted rate recognizes non-traditional diploma holders, such as students with severe disabilities who receive certificates of completion. The Adjusted AFGR formula is the same as the AFGR for NCLB formula, with the number of students earning certificates of completion added to the number of four-year diploma and more-than-four-year diploma holders.
USED’s guidelines for graduation rate formulas do not enable the counting of students who earn non-traditional diplomas; however, state regulation703 KAR 5:060 requires that the adjusted rate be reported for district and school use. The Adjusted AFGR for 2009-10 is 80.5 percent.
USED approves graduation rate formulas that states use to generate federal reports, and the agency expects all states to eventually use a cohort formula.Kentucky has worked with USED on a transitional plan for reporting graduation rates with a cohort model, allowing the state time to implement completely the tracking of individual students in the student information system.
The plan includes three steps:
1. Kentucky used the Leaver Graduation Rate for determinations for federal accountability reporting in summer 2010 (using data from school year/class of 2008‐09).
2. For this report, Kentucky uses the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR) as a transitional method to begin reporting graduation data disaggregated by group and for making determinations for federal accountability reporting (using data from school year/class of 2009‐10).
3. Kentucky will implement the Cohort Model with the nonacademic data release in fall 2013 and federal reporting determinations in summer 2014 (using data from school year/class of 2012‐13).
There are several factors that can impact AFGR data. The formula is based on the assumption that membership/enrollment is consistent over time. The formula does not take into account district or community factors that may have caused a loss in population over four years, and those factors can negatively impact the AFGR. Also, a gain in population may impact the AFGR positively.
For this data release, 31 school districts that have district or community factors that have negatively impacted their AFGR. A list of districts and factors can be found in the document District Factors Impacting the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR),which is availablehere.
Complete details on district and school graduation rates can be found in theOpen House section of KDE’s website, by clicking on the item under “Headlines” on the agency’shomepage or by visiting the Nonacademic Data section.
Go here for 2009-10 Graduation Rate Data Posting:
SOURCE: KDE Press release
1 comment:
Another KDE initiative to impose perceived quantitative analysis as a basis of institutional performance comparisons using mumbo jumbo mathmatics. Why freshman to sophomore transition as part of the formula? Why not start at first grade?
I have been an educator since KIRIS and don't see anyway a seasoned educator in Kentucky who is still serving students in a school can have any confidence in yet another new and improved attempt to quantitatively evaluate our schools. We have been doing this for over two decades and the continuous change of testing formats, assessments, reconfigurations of what is often the same core content, etc. has netted us more professional frustration and wasted PD time/resources than it has benefitted the students we have served. After 25 years we may be sending a few more kids to college but many apparently aren't prepared for college curriculum or instruction. So maybe it is good to burst a few high graduation rate bubbles and really look at what we have accomplished with all of the new and improved top down initiatives.
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