Principal's Corner

MAY 2008

I’m sure that most students and parents have read the recent statistics on city-wide graduation rates for Rochester students: Of those students who enter 9th grade in 2002, only 39% of them graduated. Or we could say that six out every 10 city kids who should have graduated in 2006, failed to do so! That’s tragic! Information for 2007 graduates indicates that approximately 49% of the 9th graders who started in 2003, throughout the city school district graduated. That’s an increase of 10%; but for this group, the city counted August graduates, while they weren’t counted in the earlier statistics.

It’s also interesting to note that the New York State Education Department does not allow school districts to count students who take five or six years to graduate; anyone who takes more than 4 years to meet state and city graduation requirements is not considered a graduate! So, what does this information tell you about graduation statistics and those people who figure the data? Here are a few possible conclusions:

  1. Statistics are often deceiving. One could easily conclude that Rochester improved its graduation rate by 10%, when comparing the data from 2006 to 2007. But, when we realize that the 2006 data did not include August graduates, we realize that it’s an unfair comparison.
  2. The NY State Education Department claims to base their practices on scientific research and principles. However, they violate one of the most important, fundamental research findings; that children learn at different rates, when they refuse to count 5 and 6 year high school graduates as official NYS graduates.
  3. It’s not only important to examine the RCSD data on graduation rates, but why students are choosing to not engage in learning. Is it simply their work ethic, or could they be bored with a sterile, uninteresting curriculum, taught through non-engaging teaching methods?
  4. And last, it is important that the public does not see the City’s low graduation rates as representative of all city high schools. For example; this year’s 2008 graduates from SWW, boasts an 80% graduation rate of its 2004 9th graders!