Another look at measuring high school graduation rates

Ninth District states boast strong high school completion rates, ranging from 89% in Minnesota to almost 95% in North Dakota in 2007, and have consistently outperformed the national average on this measure. This fedgazette analysis considers alternative measures and makes adjustments to the high school completion rate, which is the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds with a high school credential, including those who obtain an alternative, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. The existing high school completion rate includes GED certificate holders, which seems reasonable because GEDs are awarded to students in lieu of finishing high school by passing tests in five subjects. The adjusted high school graduation rates and averaged freshman graduation rates show that rates among black, Hispanic and American Indian students in the district and the nation are much lower than policymakers and others would like to see.