My apologies to all of my readers
who have been waiting with bated breath for a new post. I feel like I am coming out of hibernation so
that I can get back to blog writing. Of course,
there are lots of things going on with Salem Public Schools. I planned to start off writing about
kindergarten registration. It turns out
that this has morphed into a slightly bigger task (from one post to a series of
posts), which I am still working on. In
the midst of working on this piece, some pretty significant news came out
(nearly four weeks ago). While I wanted
to shout this news out from the rooftops, I was compelled to do a little
research to provide some added perspective. Frankly, I am surprised and
dismayed that this hasn’t already made headlines.
So….
On January 27th, Governor
Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Department of Education released the high
school graduation rates for the Commonwealth.[1] Massachusetts tends
to do well overall in education when compared to other states. For 2011 and 2012, our state graduation rate
has tied for 5th best in the country and remained in the second
quintile. Table 1 shows average
graduation rates for Massachusetts and states with higher rates- note that data
from 2013 is not yet available.[2]
TABLE 1: STATE AVERAGE GRADUATION
RATES 2011 - 2012
STATE AVERAGE GRADUATION RATE
|
|||||||
89%
|
88%
|
87%
|
86%
|
85%
|
84%
|
83%
|
|
2010-11
|
Iowa
|
Vermont
Wisconsin
|
Indiana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
|
Illinois
Maine
|
Connecticut
Kansas
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
|
||
2011-12
|
Iowa
|
Nebraska
Texas
Vermont
Wisconsin
|
North Dakota
Tennessee
|
Indiana
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Jersey
|
Connecticut
Kansas
Maine
Massachusetts
|
||
While that might not seem
significant, it should be noted that, as of 2013, our state’s graduation rate
has increased for the eighth year in a row.
Additionally, the graduation rate for students in all ethnic subgroups
improved over the past year. Table 2
shows select data from the report. Two
years ago the state started separating the data into a “high needs” category
that accounts for students that fall into more than one non-ethnic subgroup so
as to avoid counting these students more than once. For 2013, this category “includes students
categorized as any of the following as of October 1, 2012: 1) Low Income, 2)
English language learner, 3) Students with disabilities, as well as students
categorized as an English language learner during the prior two school years.”[3] Overall, the
graduation rate of high needs students increased 0.6% - and within that broad
category, the rates of English Language Learners and Low Income students
improved 2.4 and 1.2 percent, respectively.
TABLE 2: STATE AVERAGE GRADUATION
RATES 2013
# in
Cohort
|
4 yr
Rate
|
Change
from 2012
|
|
All Students
|
74, 537
|
85%
|
+ 0.3
|
ELL
|
4,701
|
63.50%
|
+ 2.4
|
Low Income
|
30,952
|
73.60%
|
+ 1.2
|
Students with
Disabilities
|
14,597
|
67.80%
|
- 0.8
|
High Needs
|
38,283
|
74.70%
|
+ 0.6
|
African American
|
7,112
|
73.80%
|
+ 0.4
|
Asian
|
4,045
|
90.60%
|
+1.1
|
Hispanic
|
10,745
|
66.80%
|
+ 1.3
|
Multi-Race Non-Hispanic
|
1,420
|
83.80%
|
+ 1.0
|
Native American
|
200
|
73.00%
|
+ 2.7
|
Pacific Islander
|
95
|
74.70%
|
+ 3.6
|
White
|
25,037
|
90.10%
|
+ 0.4
|
Although Salem has not shared the
same steady increase as the state, the graduation rate for 2013 was 87.5%. Not only is this an impressive gain from
2012, this is the first time the city’s graduation rate exceeded the state
average since 2006.[4] Graph 1 shows the
graduation and drop-out rates for Salem, along with the state average
graduation rate, for the past 8 years.
The overall trend has been upward, despite dips in 2008 and 2012.
Graph 2 shows graduation rates in
Salem for English language learners, students with disabilities, and low income
students. Rates for high needs students
is also shown, but recall that data is only available for 2012 and 2103. Notice the similar trends among low income
students and students with disabilities.
There is a lot more variability with English language learners, though
we can hope that this rate continues to increase overall.
Of course, these numbers are all
very interesting, but how do we compare to other high schools on the North
Shore? Similar districts throughout the
state? Gateway cities? For the full picture, we also have to
consider the student demographic – as we know students in the high needs
population (again, these are English language learners, low income students,
and students with disabilities) face more challenges with succeeding in
school. For each group or “cohort”
analysis, I selected overall graduation rate, drop out rate, percentage and
graduation rate of high needs students.
Cohort data is specifically based on 4 year graduation rates. I only used data from 2012 and 2013 for
comparison of recent trends in each district (and due to the fact that I don't
have time to analyze 6 years of data for 53 schools). I have also listed the cities in each group
(North Shore, Similar Districts, and Gateway Cities) in descending order by
overall 4 year graduation rate for easy reference of ranking.
First I selected nearby school
districts on the north shore for comparison that include Beverly, Chelsea,
Danvers, Everett, Hamilton-Wenham, Lynn, Marblehead, Masconomet (which serves
the towns of Middleton, Boxford, and Topsfield), Peabody, Revere, and
Swampscott. I also thought it was fair
to include Salem Academy Charter School.
Graph 3 shows a comparison of schools in these districts. Hamilton-Wenham, Marblehead, Masconomet, and
Swampscott have stayed in the top four over the past two years.
GRAPH 3: NORTH SHORE GRADUATION RATE
COMPARISON – 2012-13
Table 3 shows graduation rates and
demographic data for 2013 as well as changes from 2012 – note that the schools
in green are also considered Gateway Cities.
While our place within this group has not significantly changed (we
moved up one spot to tie for 9th place with Salem Academy Charter
School), we have gained the most in graduation rates overall (+ 8.6%) and for
high needs (+11.7%) students. The bottom half of the table is filled with green – showing that
schools in Gateway Cities, which tend to have a higher percentage of high needs
students, have a lower overall graduation rate.
Amongst these schools, I am most interested about Revere High School and
Lynn Classical. They
had a high percentage of high needs students that graduated at a rate that was
very close to their overall graduation rate.
Compare this to Danvers High School, which had a high needs population
of 28.2% in 2013, which only 80.6% of this group graduated (their overall graduation rate was 92.5%). The number of high needs students in Salem
has been relatively constant, (72.9% in 2012 and 72% in 2013), but the graduation
rate of this group increased.
TABLE 3: NORTH SHORE GRADUATION
RATES
SCHOOL
|
2013 Grad Rate %
|
Grad Rate
+/- from 2012
|
2013
Drop Out Rate %
|
% High Needs
|
High Needs Grad Rate %
|
High Needs Grad Rate +/-
from 2012
|
MASCONOMET REG HIGH
|
98.7
|
1.1
|
0
|
17.1
|
96.2
|
4.9
|
MARBLEHEAD HIGH
|
96.7
|
0
|
0.9
|
34.1
|
91.7
|
-0.7
|
HAMILTON-WENHAM REG HI
|
95.3
|
-2.5
|
2.4
|
20.5
|
88.6
|
-0.3
|
SWAMPSCOTT HIGH
|
94.3
|
-4
|
3.3
|
26.8
|
44.3
|
-55.7
|
DANVERS HS
|
92.5
|
1.2
|
3.1
|
28.2
|
80.6
|
5.2
|
BEVERLY HS
|
91.4
|
6.4
|
4.1
|
41.7
|
81.7
|
9.3
|
REVERE HIGH
|
88.6
|
2.8
|
3.6
|
86.3
|
87.4
|
3.5
|
LYNN CLASSICAL
|
87.8
|
6.9
|
6.5
|
87
|
86.6
|
8.1
|
SALEM ACADEMY CHARTER
|
87.5
|
-8.7
|
8.3
|
62.5
|
86.7
|
-8.3
|
SALEM HIGH
|
87.5
|
8.6
|
5.7
|
72
|
84.6
|
11.7
|
PEABODY VETERANS MEM
|
83.7
|
-0.8
|
8
|
50.2
|
74
|
2.5
|
EVERETT HS
|
81.8
|
4.6
|
8.4
|
84
|
79.7
|
4.6
|
LYNN ENGLISH
|
74.8
|
-3.3
|
12.2
|
84
|
72.9
|
-4.4
|
CHELSEA HS
|
65.6
|
5.4
|
16.9
|
95.6
|
64.7
|
4.3
|
The Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), compiles a list similar school
districts that they use when assessing achievement and accountability. These districts are defined as ones that are
similar, “based on grades, span, enrollment and special populations.” The districts comparable to Salem are
Cambridge, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Haverhill, Marlborough, Randolph,
Somerville, Waltham, and West Springfield.
Graph 4 shows the trend in graduation rates from 2012 and 2013. In this group, Salem has soared from 7th
place in 2012 (3rd place was a tie) to 2nd in 2013.
GRAPH 4: SIMILAR DISTRICTS
GRADUATION RATE COMPARISON – 2012-13
Table 4 shows the corresponding
graduation rates and demographic data for these schools. As noted previously, the schools shaded in
green are also considered Gateway Cities.
While Fitchburg had the highest overall graduation rate in 2013, Salem
experienced the biggest improvement in both overall and high needs graduation
rates within this group as well. Fall
River and Randolph also have larger high needs populations and made impressive
improvements. Interestingly, all of the
Gateway Cities, except Haverhill, were in the lower half of the table (with
lower graduation rates) in 2012 and now find themselves in the top half for
2013.
TABLE 4: SIMILAR DISTRICTS GRADUATION
RATE
SCHOOL
|
2013 Grad Rate %
|
Grad Rate +/- from 2012
|
2013 Drop Out Rate %
|
2013
% High Needs
|
2013 High Needs Grad Rate
%
|
High Needs Grad Rate +/-
from 2012
|
FITCHBURG HS
|
89.1
|
8.1
|
4.2
|
80.3
|
79.8
|
4.9
|
SALEM HIGH
|
87.5
|
8.6
|
5.7
|
72
|
84.6
|
11.7
|
CAMBRIDGE RINGE & LATIN
|
87.3
|
0.1
|
4.2
|
68.7
|
84.2
|
0.9
|
FRAMINGHAM HS
|
86.7
|
-0.2
|
5.6
|
53.5
|
79.6
|
1.4
|
FALL RIVER BMC DURFEE
|
84.7
|
6.8
|
7
|
78.6
|
81.6
|
8.3
|
MARLBOROUGH HIGH
|
84.1
|
2.4
|
5.6
|
53.6
|
72.7
|
1.6
|
SOMERVILLE HIGH
|
82.9
|
-0.6
|
9
|
83.8
|
81.1
|
-0.6
|
W. SPRINGFIELD HIGH
|
82
|
0.5
|
9.8
|
57.9
|
72.1
|
1.9
|
WALTHAM SR. HIGH
|
81.3
|
-2.2
|
11.7
|
62.2
|
73.3
|
-1.2
|
RANDOLPH HIGH
|
80.2
|
8.3
|
9.6
|
81.3
|
78.5
|
13.6
|
HAVERHILL HIGH
|
75.3
|
4.2
|
13.3
|
57.8
|
62.8
|
9
|
Lastly, I wanted to compare our
rates to those of other Gateway Cities (as I mention them). Salem’s designation as a Gateway City might
have stirred up some concern and confusion but, for my purposes, the
classification actually does offer some insight when looking at public school
systems within these cities. Currently,
there are 26 communities which have been classified as "Gateway Cities" by the
state (in collaboration with the Brookings Institution and the Massachusetts
Institute for a New Commonwealth, MassINC).
Gateway Cities are defined as, “midsize urban centers that anchor
regional economies around the state.”
They “face stubborn challenges” and “retain many assets of unrealized
potential.”[5] These communities
include Attleboro, Barnstable, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall
River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn,
Malden, Methuen, New Bedford, Peabody, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Salem,
Springfield, Taunton, Westfield, and Worcester.
As I noted earlier, a few of these communities are also located on the
North Shore or are a similar school districts, as determined by the Department
of Education. Within this group, we
moved up from 14th to 7th (tied with Attleboro). (I have omitted the graph for this group
because the tables are easier to read.)
Table 5 shows the data - light green schools are similar districts, and
dark green are on the North Shore.)
MassINC recently concluded from the data that, on average, the
graduation rate in Gateway Cities increased 1.1 percentage points in 2013 (to
75.3%). There were slight changes in the numbers of students dropping out
(decrease by 1 percent), increases in those remaining in school after four
years, and a decrease in expulsions.[6] Within the top 10
Gateway Cities, Salem made the second biggest leap in overall graduation rate
for 2013 (Lawrence Performing & Fine Arts High School increased
18.5%). Among those schools with higher
graduation rates, Quincy High is another school with a large percentage of high
needs students (in addition to Fitchburg, Lynn Classical, and Revere, which
were previously mentioned).
TABLE 5: GATEWAY CITIES GRADUATION
RATES
SCHOOL
|
2013 Grad Rate %
|
Grad Rate +/- from 2012
|
2013 Drop Out Rate %
|
2013 % High Needs
|
2013 High Needs Grad Rate
%
|
High Needs Grad Rate +/-
from 2012
|
NORTH QUINCY HIGH
|
91.8
|
-2.2
|
4.5
|
54.5
|
90.1
|
-1
|
LEOMINSTER HS
|
90.4
|
1
|
4.8
|
53.4
|
84.8
|
3.5
|
FITCHBURG HS
|
89.1
|
8.1
|
4.2
|
80.3
|
79.8
|
4.9
|
REVERE HIGH
|
88.6
|
2.8
|
3.6
|
86.3
|
87.4
|
3.5
|
QUINCY HIGH
|
88.3
|
2.8
|
4.9
|
74.1
|
86.5
|
3.8
|
LYNN CLASSICAL
|
87.8
|
6.9
|
6.5
|
87
|
86.6
|
8.1
|
ATTLEBORO
HS
|
87.5
|
-0.4
|
6.6
|
46.7
|
75.9
|
-2.1
|
SALEM HIGH
|
87.5
|
8.6
|
5.7
|
72
|
84.6
|
11.7
|
BARNSTABLE
HS
|
87.3
|
-3.3
|
6.7
|
49.3
|
77.7
|
-5.5
|
LAWRENCE PFA
|
86
|
18.5
|
9.9
|
96.7
|
85.5
|
18.5
|
WESTFIELD HIGH
|
84.9
|
-2.2
|
5
|
43.8
|
73
|
-3.4
|
FALL RIVER BMC DURFEE
|
84.7
|
6.8
|
7
|
78.6
|
81.6
|
8.3
|
BROCKTON HS
|
84.3
|
2.6
|
6.8
|
84.1
|
82.2
|
3.1
|
TAUNTON HIGH
|
84
|
5.3
|
10.8
|
53.7
|
85.7
|
18.4
|
PEABODY VETERANS MEM
|
83.7
|
-0.8
|
8
|
50.2
|
74
|
2.5
|
WORCESTER DOHERTY
|
83.2
|
1.1
|
6.6
|
74.1
|
78.8
|
-0.4
|
METHUEN HIGH
|
82.6
|
7.7
|
5.9
|
52.9
|
73.9
|
6.9
|
EVERETT HS
|
81.8
|
4.6
|
8.4
|
84
|
79.7
|
4.6
|
PITTSFIELD TACONIC
|
81
|
1.2
|
8.8
|
61.9
|
71.7
|
2.6
|
LAWRENCE MST
|
80.9
|
10.7
|
12.8
|
92.9
|
80.9
|
10.9
|
PITTSFIELD HIGH
|
78.3
|
-2.6
|
8.4
|
60.2
|
67.3
|
0.1
|
MALDEN HIGH
|
78
|
-0.2
|
10
|
76.5
|
76.2
|
1.7
|
LAWRENCE HHS
|
76.7
|
5
|
12
|
98.5
|
77.1
|
4.9
|
CHICOPEE HS
|
76.3
|
1.4
|
9.8
|
67.4
|
67.8
|
1.6
|
LOWELL HS
|
76
|
2.2
|
10.4
|
76
|
70.8
|
2.9
|
LAWRENCE HLD
|
75.9
|
-0.5
|
8.3
|
97.2
|
75.9
|
0.3
|
HAVERHILL HIGH
|
75.3
|
4.2
|
13.3
|
57.8
|
62.8
|
9
|
LYNN ENGLISH
|
74.8
|
-3.3
|
12.2
|
84
|
72.9
|
-4.4
|
WORCESTER BURNCOAT
|
72.2
|
3.8
|
13.2
|
80.9
|
70.1
|
9.5
|
SPRINGFIELD CENTRAL HS
|
69.5
|
-5.1
|
18.4
|
88.1
|
67
|
-5.5
|
LAWRENCE BMF
|
69.4
|
2.4
|
19
|
98.3
|
69.7
|
1.5
|
CHELSEA HS
|
65.6
|
5.4
|
16.9
|
95.6
|
64.7
|
4.3
|
WORCESTER NORTH HIGH
|
65.2
|
7.7
|
18
|
95.5
|
64.2
|
8.5
|
WORCESTER SOUTH HIGH
|
64.7
|
-0.7
|
14.4
|
92.8
|
62.5
|
-4.1
|
HOLYOKE HIGH
|
64.6
|
-3.3
|
19.4
|
85.3
|
60.8
|
-1.1
|
NEW BEDFORD HIGH
|
62.9
|
4.4
|
21.2
|
77.8
|
56.9
|
3.5
|
LAWRENCE INT
|
48.5
|
-12
|
22.3
|
100
|
48.5
|
-13.4
|
SPRINGFIELD HS SCI & TECH
|
45
|
5.1
|
34.6
|
94.5
|
44.3
|
6.1
|
SPRINGFIELD HS COMMERCE
|
35.8
|
0.4
|
36.1
|
91.5
|
35.5
|
-0.3
|
With all this focus on numbers, I
don’t want to overlook the important messages here. Most importantly, we need to celebrate this
wonderful achievement in Salem. (Where
are the accolades from our local news outlets?)
This is the highest overall graduation rate we have seen in the past
eight years - and the first time we have exceeded the state average. I hope that the Department of Education has
something to say about this when they make their report for this quarter. Of course this leads into the more serious
messages… Are these rates
sustainable? Do we have the programs and
supports in place to maintain these higher graduation rates? I hope so. It may not be realistic to
expect that we can sustain the same rates of improvement next year or every
year. Still, small improvements or just
maintaining these rates would be nice.
What are reasonable expectations for our district, given our diversity? I will be interested to see how Fitchburg,
Lynn, Quincy, and Revere do going forward.
What are they doing that we can learn from? Either way, I am hopeful that this
development will give us some momentum as we carry on with our work in the district. I am left with the all-too-familiar “we
shall see”. Until then, I’ll be shifting
my focus again to the other end of the spectrum - Kindergarten.
[1] The official press release
from Governor Patrick and the Department of Education: http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=8000
[2] State average graduation data
was accessed on the U.S. Department of Education’s web site: http://eddataexpress.ed.gov/
[3] The actual report on the 2013 Four
Year Graduation Rates in Massachusetts: http://www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/reports/gradrates/2013-4yr.pdf
[5] Web page “About Gateway
Cities” by MassINC, with links to community profiles. http://www.massinc.org/Programs/Gateway-Cities/About-Gateway-Cities.aspx
[6] A very brief blog post from
MassINC about 2013 graduation rates of Gateway Cities. http://www.massinc.org/INCSpot/New-Graduation-Rate-Data-show-Gateway-City-Gains.aspx
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