Method
Graduation rates are acquired for all US school-districts in the United States from US Department of Education (ED) EdFacts 2018-19 data tables. States are required to report graduation data to the US Department of Education under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Specifically, states are required to report rates based on a cohort method, which would provide a more uniform and accurate measure of the high school graduation rate that improved comparability across states. The cohort graduation rate is defined as “the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class.” From the beginning of 9th grade (or the earliest high school grade), students who are entering that grade for the first time form a cohort that is “adjusted” by adding any students who subsequently transfer into the cohort and subtracting any students who subsequently transfer out, emigrate to another country, or die.
County-level summaries are calculated by CARES using small-area estimation technique based on the proportion of the population aged 15-19 in each school district/county. The population figures for this calculation are based on data from the 2010 US Decennial Census at the census block geographic level.
For more information please consult the original data the original data or download the complete EdFacts Data Documentation.
Background
EDFacts is a U. S. Department of Education (ED) initiative to collect, analyze, report on, and promote the use of high-quality, kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) performance data for use in education planning, policymaking, and management and budget decision-making to improve outcomes for students. EDFacts centralizes data provided by state education agencies, local education agencies, and schools, and provides users with the ability to easily analyze and report on submitted data. ED collects performance data at the school and school-district levels and provides public use files containing data that have been modified to protect against the ability to determine personally identifiable information on students.
Note
Race and Ethnicity
Statistics by race and ethnicity are not provided for this indicator.
Data Limitations
Graduation rates for some school districts are provided by EdFacts as ranges; range mid-points were calculated by CARES to facilitate data manipulation.