Graduation Rates

Yesterday the Virginia Department of Education released data regarding graduation rates for the class of 2009. This is a critical measurement, because kids who don't graduate don't stand a chance in this century's economy. I did a little poking around to see how Loudoun stacks up:

• Of 3661 kids in the cohort (who started high school four years earlier), 3429 graduated this year (93.7%).That is the sixth largest graduating class in the state.
  
• The state average graduation rate for this cohort is 83.2%.
• Of the 131 rated districts, LCPS is fifth overall in the state but first among districts with more than one high school.
• We are also 3rd among our neighbors, behind Falls Church City's 151 graduates (96.3%) and Clarke County's 177 grads (95.3%).
• African American students had a 92.5% graduation rate in Loudoun, again first among districts with more than one high school and second only to Falls Church City in the region.
• 95.5% of Female students graduated on time (1,714 of them), 5th in the state and behind York County (95.8%) for large districts.
• 94.5% of Loudoun's disabled students graduated on time, 9th in the state and behind only Roanoke for large districts.
  

Among all of those great numbers, LCPS is having a hard time with its Hispanic students. Of the 28 districts who had enough Hispanic students to count, Loudoun ranked 20th. That said, most of those districts are much smaller. Among districts with more than 90 Hispanic students in the cohort, Loudoun (79.4% of 481) ranked behind only Virginia Beach City (85.6% of 299). Fairfax, Prince William and Alexandria are all behind Loudoun in this regard.

Additionally, Economically Disadvantaged students are behind the curve. 86.5% graduated on time (still higher than the state's average for all kids), 14th in the state and third among sizable districts. Locally, Clarke County, Falls Church City and Manassas Park City did very well for their economically disadvantaged kids.