WASHINGTON ― The record high American graduation rate masks large gaps among low-income students and those with disabilities compared to their peers. There are also wide disparities among states in how well they are tackling the issue.
“This year, we need to sound a stronger alarm,” said Gen. Colin Powell and his wife, Alma Powell, in a letter released Tuesday as part of an annual Grad Nation report produced in part by their America’s Promise Alliance organization. The report is based on 2013 rates using federal data, the most recent available.
The nation’s overall graduation rate has reached 81 percent, a figure frequently touted by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Duncan said Tuesday in a statement that the gains are encouraging, but “we know that more hard work remains to truly prepare all ― not just some ― students for success in college.”
Here are five things to know about high school graduation rates:
The good news
More students are graduating from high school than ever before, with large gains among African-American and Hispanic students. Since 2006, the percentage of Black students graduating has risen 9 percentage points to 71 percent and Hispanic students has risen 15 percentage points to 75 percent.
The improvement is due to a variety of factors, including greater consistency in comparing graduation rates from state to state and the development of systems to identify and target at-risk students. The increase in the graduation rate also has been accompanied by a decline in the number of “dropout factory” schools, where 60 percent or less of students graduate.
