SD Unified's graduation rates continue improvement; most dropout rates decline

A three-year trend of increasing graduation rates has continued for the San Diego Unified School District, which had 86.9 percent of its students graduate in 2012, an increase of 1.6 percent over 2011 and 4.7 from 2010, according to data released April 9 by the California Department of Education. San Diego Unified leads the San Diego County average by 8.4 percentage points.

Graduation day at Madison High.

Only one large school district in California had a higher graduation rate than San Diego Unified's 86.9 percent: Garden Grove with 87.8. Other large districts ranged from San Francisco's 82.2 to Oakland's 73.2. San Diego Unified's overall dropout rate of 6.2 percent was the lowest among the nine other large urban largest districts in California, with San Francisco the next lowest at 10 percent.

"This continued improvement means that our district, and most importantly our students, are on the right path," said Superintendent Bill Kowba. "To have a nearly five percent jump in just three years shows the outstanding work done every day by everyone in the San Diego Unified School District."

Across San Diego County, the graduation rate is 78.4 percent with a dropout rate of 10.4 percent, 4.2 percentage points above the county's largest school district. The statistics report the overall graduation rate, which is the number of students attending in ninth grade who get a diploma. The dropout rate is the number of students entering grade 12 but fail to graduate.

“Attendance figures build on each other," said Kowba. "If the kids are coming to school day in and day out at every grade level and keep moving up the ladder and don’t let up on that emphasis, I think we’re in a great place.”

Since 2007, reducing the dropout rate has been one of the district's top priorities, not only focusing on high school seniors, but starting early -- as early as sixth grade. Studies show that student who miss 10 days or more in sixth grade have a higher high school dropout rate than their classmates who miss fewer days.

"Even with these outstanding overall numbers, the statistics show we were unable to make an impact on Hispanic students last year," said Kowba.

Among Hispanics, while the dropout rate was unchanged at 9.9 percent, the graduation rate rose to 80.2 percent from 78 percent. Among other large ethnic groups, African Americans' dropout rate declined to 7 percent from 7.7 percent and the graduation rate increased to 83.9 from 81.8 in 2011 and 76.9 in 2010.

Programs such as graduation coaches, credit recovery, providing more options for high school students on campus have been instrumental in improving the graduation rate, said Kowba. In 2012, state Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson called San Diego Unified a "model of attendance improvement."

To look up specific schools, go to the California Department of Education website at http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/ 

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