Baltimore City High school graduation rate rises
Staff Writer
2011-10-09
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Although Baltimore City's population is majority African American, the graduation rate for most of the polling ethnic groups was at 50 percent or lower except for the Asian community.
Largest year-to-year increase in a decade in leaver rate and 20 percent increase over four years; 87 percent of 2011 cohort graduated on time or remains in school after four years; Historically low dropout rate and African American male gains drive overall progress
In its release of 2010-11 high school performance data for the state and its school districts today, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) issued two graduation measures: its longstanding “leaver” rate and a new “cohort” rate, the official means of measuring graduation in Maryland, starting this year. On both counts, Baltimore City Public Schools showed significant increases over 2009-10.
In 2010-11, City Schools awarded 4,595 diplomas, up from 4,421 in 2009-10 and 4,118 in 2006-07. This translates into solid, across-the-board graduation gains. City Schools’ leaver rate, the one the state has used since it first started
tracking graduation in 1997, is 71.9 percent, up from 65.9 percent in 2009-10 and 60.1 percent in 2006-07—the biggest one-year increase in a decade for the district, and a 20-percent jump over four years.