Graduation rate is the percentage of students completing the requirements for a Kentucky high school diploma compared to a cohort of students beginning in grade nine. Kentucky uses both a five-year and four-year adjusted cohort rate in accountability. The five-year rate recognizes the persistence of students and educators in completing the requirements for a Kentucky high school diploma. The cohort is “adjusted” by adding any students who transfer into the cohort and by subtracting any students who transfer out of the cohort to a legitimate educational setting or situation (e.g., transfer to an out-of-state school, enroll in a private school, emigrate to another country, or student death). The Graduation Rate will be reported for all students and all student groups and based on the students’ final enrollment.
Both the four-year and five-year adjusted cohort formula uses the number of students who graduate in four or five years divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class in four or five years, respectively. Kentucky’s Graduation rate indicator averages the four- and five- year rates.
For each state indicator, there are five Status Levels, ranging from very high to very low and five Change Levels, ranging from increased significantly to declined significantly. Indicator color ratings are based on the combination of Status and Change using a 5 X 5 table.
Cohort Graduation Rate Data
The Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate data provides an accurate graduation model that follows students from their first year in high school through their expected cohort graduation school year.
The 4 and 5-year adjusted cohort graduation rates are reported at the high school, district, and state levels in the aggregate as well as disaggregated by subgroups. For every cohort, the 4-year and 5-year graduation rate is calculated beginning with the 2012-13 school year.
The “4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate” is defined as the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who entered high school four years earlier adjusting for transfers in and out, émigrés and deceased students.
The “5-year adjusted cohort graduation rate” is defined as the number of students who graduate in five years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who entered high school five years earlier adjusting for transfers in and out, émigrés and deceased students.
Graduation data can be found in the School Report Card and in Open House.