graduation

PRESS RELEASE – September 30, 2016

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released state-level, division-level, and school-level cohort reports that detail outcomes for students who entered the ninth grade for the first time in 2012 and were scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2016. High school cohort reports for schools, school divisions, and the Commonwealth are available for viewing and downloading in the Virginia School Report Card section of the VDOE Web site:

http://www.pen.k12.va.us/statistics_reports/graduation_completion/cohort_reports/index.shtml

This is the eighth calculation by the state of a longitudinal dropout rate, which tracks students beginning with their ninth-grade year, rather than an annual reporting for a particular school year. The graduation rate is indicative of those students who earned advanced, standard, modified, special, or general achievement diplomas. Students earning a GED are not included in the calculation. The dropout rate reflects those students who permanently left school and does not include students who are continuing to seek a diploma beyond the four years.

Fluvanna’s on-time graduation rate increased from 92.5 percent in 2015 to 94.3 percent in 2016 and surpassed the state’s rate at 91.3 percent. The county’s dropout rate of 2.5 percent (7 students in the cohort) in 2016 was a decrease of .8 percent from 2015, and was lower than the state’s average of 5.3 percent.

Fluvanna has 1.41 percent (4 students) of the 2016 cohort still enrolled in school. This indicates that although students did not complete high school in four years, they still valued the importance of education and chose to return to school to earn their diploma.

Compared with the 132 school divisions across the state of Virginia, Fluvanna ranks 29th for on-time graduation and 19th for fewest Dropouts.

The state’s report disaggregates the graduation and dropout data to reflect student subgroups. Fluvanna exceeded the state’s performance in six out of the seven areas for both on-time graduation and dropouts.

The subgroup of black students outperformed the state in on-time graduation by 7.3 percent, with a rate of 95.6 percent. For the second consecutive year, Fluvanna’s dropout rate for the black subgroup was 0 percent compared with the state average of 6.3 percent and down from 3.9 percent in 2014. Although not all of the students in the black subgroup graduated in four years, they remained in school to continue their education.

The graduation rate for the subgroup of students with disabilities exceeded the state average by over 7 percent. The dropout rate for this subgroup was 2.6 percent which is far below the state average of 9.7 percent and is lower than the previous year.

Fluvanna continues to work to address the needs of its disadvantaged population, the dropout rate for this subgroup is 7.6 percent which is an improvement over the previous year, but still an area of concern. The division continues to focus its efforts on giving these students support and resources to successfully complete high school as Fluvanna’s rate was slightly below the state rate for On-Time Graduation.

The table below provide a breakout for all subgroups compared to state and the previous year’s results.

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Fluvanna’s graduates earning an Advanced Studies Diploma exceeded the state average and increased by more than 3 percent over the previous year. The Advanced Studies Diploma prepares students to enter higher education and requires additional credits in mathematics, laboratory science, and history and social sciences as compared with the Standard Diploma requirements. The Advanced Studies Diploma also requires students to complete three years of foreign language and three additional Standards of Learning Tests. There was a significant decrease in Modified Standard Diplomas which are less rigorous than the requirements for a Standard Diploma for students with disabilities. This is the last cohort for which the Modified Standard Diploma will be an option. The strengthening of the instruction provided to students with disabilities is allowing this subgroup to attain a Standard or Advanced Studies Diplomas. The chart below outlines the diplomas awarded to the class of 2016.

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For additional information contact Brenda Gilliam, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, at 434-589-8208 or bgilliam@apps.fluco.org.

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