Wichita Graduation Report

The Graduation Project, 2007

SPECIAL REPORT: WICHITA KANSAS

A special district-focused supplement to Education Week's Diplomas Count

WICHITA - Graduation Report Education System Profile Local Education Agency:

State Education Agency:

WICHITA

Kansas State Department of Education

WICHITA, KS

www.ksbe.state.ks.us

Vital Statistics - K-12 Public Education

District

KS

Nation

Schools

90

1,404

92,049

Students

46,842

455,243

47,263,784

Teachers

2,997

32,589

3,048,549

Student-Teacher Ratio

16.3

14.4

15.9

District

KS

Nation

(%)

(%)

(%)

American Indian/Alaska Native

2.7

1.4

1.2

Asian/Pacific Islander

5.4

2.3

4.4

Hispanic

19.7

11.0

18.5

Black (not Hispanic)

23.6

8.9

17.2

White (not Hispanic)

48.7

76.4

58.7

Poverty (Free or Reduced Lunch Eligible)

63.7

37.4

40.2

English Language Learners

10.5

4.8

9.5

Special Education

14.5

13.8

13.5

District

KS

Nation

Segregation based on race-ethnicity

0.57

0.25

0.44

Segregation based on socio-economic status

0.70

0.42

0.45

Student Demographics Race/Ethnicity

Segregation Levels Levels of segregation are measured using an index that can have values ranging from 0 to 1. A value of 1 indicates the highest possible level of segregation.

Editorial Projects in Education Research Center • www.edweek.org/rc

4/01/2008

Page 1 of 5

WICHITA - Graduation Report How does the EPE Research Center calculate graduation rates? In this report, the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center uses the Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI) method to calculate graduation rates. The CPI represents graduating from high school as a process rather than a single event. Specifically, it captures the four key steps a student must take in order to graduate - three grade-to-grade promotions (9 to 10, 10 to 11, and 11 to 12) and ultimately earning a diploma (grade 12 to graduation). The formula below illustrates the CPI formula for calculating graduation rates. The class of 2003-04, the most recent year of data available, is used as an example.

10th graders, fall 2004 CPI =

11th graders, fall 2004

12th graders, fall 2004

X 9th graders, fall 2003

Diploma recipients, spring 2004

X 10th graders, fall 2003

X 11th graders, fall 2003

12th graders, fall 2003

By multiplying grade-specific promotion ratios together, the CPI estimates the likelihood that a ninth grader will complete high school on time with a regular diploma, given the schooling conditions prevailing during a particular school year. The CPI counts only students receiving standard high school diplomas as graduates, following the definition of a graduate adopted by the No Child Left Behind Act. We can use a simplified example to further demonstrate the way we calculate the CPI. Let us suppose that a particular school district currently has 100 students enrolled in each grade from 9 through 12. We will also assume that five percent of students currently in grades 9, 10, and 11 will drop out of school this year and that 5 percent of seniors will fail to earn a diploma at the end of the year. So, for example, we would count 100 ninth graders at our starting point but only 95 tenth graders the following fall.

95 CPI =

95 X

100

95 X

100

95 X

100

=

.815

100

Carrying out the calculation (shown above), we arrive at a graduation rate of 81.5 percent for this district. Given conditions in this hypothetical district (an effective 5 percent annual attrition rate for students at each grade level), only about 82 out of every 100 ninth graders would be expected to finish high school with a diploma. The CPI can be calculated for public school districts that have students enrolled in the secondary grades (9 through 12). State and national statistics are generated by aggregating the district-level data upward. Notes on Our Methodology Graduation rates and other indictors presented in this report are created using data from the Common Core of Data (CCD). The CCD is an annual census of public schools and school districts in the United States conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. Detailed methodological descriptions of the CCD can be found in technical documentation published by the National Center for Education Statistics (available online at nces.ed.gov/ccd). For the 2003-04 school year, diploma counts for New York and Wisconsin were not reported to the CCD. The EPE Research Center obtained those data from the respective state education agencies. Our goal is to provide a direct measure of the graduation rate for each of the roughly 11,000 school districts in the nation that enroll high school students. We were able to do this for districts serving the vast majority (96 percent) of all public school students nationwide. But in a small number of cases - for example, if a particular piece of information needed to calculate the CPI indicator was missing - we could not directly compute the graduation rate. In an effort to provide a meaningful graduation rate value in situations where a direct calculation was not possible, the EPE Research Center estimated or imputed a rate based on a nationwide statistical analysis. This analysis takes into account graduation-rate patterns observed for other public school districts with similar characteristics. Factors examined include: district size, community type (urban, suburban, town, rural), racial-ethnic composition of the student population, poverty level (based on eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch), student-teacher ratio, and the state in which the district is located. School districts for which a value has been imputed are clearly identified on the following page of this report. In order to avoid unintentional disclosure of information about individual students, we do not report results for very small demographic subgroups, those with fewer than five students in a given category.

Editorial Projects in Education Research Center • www.edweek.org/rc

4/01/2008

Page 2 of 5

WICHITA - Graduation Report Graduation Profile High School Graduation Rate for All Students

How does your district compare? 100 90

Graduation Rate 2003-04: 59.6%

for

Graduation Rate Percentage

80 70 60 50 40 74 30

70

60

20 10 0

District

Nation

State

Ten-Year Trend in Graduation Rates 100

Your District

Your State

National Average

2004

59.7

74.4

69.9

2003

59.6

75.1

69.7

2002

55.4

74.9

69.4

2001

57.8

74.3

68.0

2000

58.6

73.5

66.8

1999

53.3

73.5

66.1

1998

54.3

72.2

65.6

1997

52.8

73.9

65.7

1996

51.3

72.9

66.4

1995

72.1

72.9

65.8

Year

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 1995

1996

1997

1998

WICHITA

1999

2000

KANSAS

2001

2002

2003

2004

NATION

Editorial Projects in Education Research Center • www.edweek.org/rc

4/01/2008

Page 3 of 5

WICHITA - Graduation Report

Editorial Projects in Education Research Center • www.edweek.org/rc

4/01/2008

Page 4 of 5

WICHITA - Graduation Report The High School PipeLine The Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI) method of calculating graduation rates can be used to examine the high school pipeline. That is, we can estimate the numbers of students who fall off track for earning a diploma at various points between the 9th grade and the expected time of graduation.

WICHITA For every 100 students in the 9th grade, how many make it to later grades and earn a diploma?

Where are students lost?

100 90 9th Grade (21.4%)

Number of Students

80 70 60 50

100

12th Grade (53.3%)

91 81

40

81

30

10th Grade (25.3%)

60

20 10 0

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

Graduation

Kansas 100 90

Number of Students

80

9th Grade (26.1%) 12th Grade (30.7%)

70 60 50

100

93

40

86

82

74

30 11th Grade (16.5%)

10th Grade (26.8%)

20 10 0

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

Graduation

Nation 100 90 12th Grade (19.1%)

Number of Students

80 70

9th Grade (34.9%)

60 50

100 90 81

40

11th Grade (19.2%) 76

70

30 20

10th Grade (26.7%)

10 0

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

Graduation

Editorial Projects in Education Research Center • www.edweek.org/rc

4/01/2008

Page 5 of 5

Also from the

EPE Research Center Diplomas Count 2007: Ready for What? Preparing Students for College, Careers, and Life After High School

•Diplomas Count 2007 - This new report, produced with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, explores what it means to ensure that high school students graduate prepared for both higher education and the workplace. An original analysis drawing on two national databases shines a spotlight on "jobs with a future" nationally and for each state. Diplomas Count also examines state policies for college and work readiness and provides an updated analysis of graduation rates for the nation, states, and 50 largest school districts. •State Graduation Briefs - These online reports feature detailed, state-specific data on graduation rates and information on state policies related to high school graduation requirements.

•Policy Briefs - The EPE Research Center has also produced a series of online-only briefs focusing on specific state policy issues: What It Takes to Graduate for the Class of 2006-07,High School Assessments 2006-07, and Graduation Rates Under NCLB.

Visit Diplomas Count at www.edweek.org/go/dc07

About Editorial Projects in Education Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization based in Bethesda, MD. Our primary mission is to help raise the level of awareness and understanding among professionals and the public of important issues in American education. We cover local, state, national, and international news and issues from preschool through the 12th grade. Editorial Projects in Education Inc. publishes Education Week, America's newspaper of record for precollegiate education, edweek.org, and the Agent K-12 employment resource. We also produce periodic special reports on issues ranging from technology to textbooks, as well as books of special interest to educators.

The EPE Research Center conducts annual policy surveys, collects data, and performs analyses that appear in the Quality Counts, Technology Counts, and Diplomas Count annual reports. The center also produces independent research reports and contributes original data and analysis to special coverage in Education Week and edweek.org.

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