About the New Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate

Beginning with the students who entered the ninth grade in 2004-05, Virginia began tracking individual students over the four years of a traditional high school career to determine the percentage who graduate on time. Previously graduations rates have been calculated under several different methods (see Q&A below). The new On-Time Graduation Rate was prompted by a 2005 National Governors Association (NGA) task force report that recommended that all states adopt a graduation rate to measure on-time graduation, with most students expected to earn a diploma in four years. All of the states with the exception of North Dakota have either already made the change or are expected to do so soon.

The Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate will be calculated this way: The number of students who earned a diploma in 2008 will be divided by the number of students who entered the ninth grade for the first time in 2004-05 (plus transfers in and minus transfers out).  To help our community understand the significance of the On-Time Graduation Rate, a question and answer fact sheet has been developed.

Question and Answer Fact Sheet

How many different ways does the Virginia Department of Education calculate graduation rates?
The VDOE reports an Unadjusted Graduation Rate, a No Child Left Behind Graduation Rate and now an On-Time Graduation Rate.

What is different about the On-Time method of calculation versus other ways the state has previously calculated graduation rates?
The Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate follows individual students and takes into account all state-recognized diplomas. It also takes into consideration student mobility, changes in student enrollment, policy and instructional practices such as ninth grade retention, while recognizing that some students are allowed more than the standard four years to earn a diploma. In comparison, the Virginia Unadjusted Graduation Rate is calculated by dividing the number of graduates in a given year by the number of ninth graders four years earlier. Since it does not follow individual students, it does not take into consideration student mobility and attrition. The No Child Left Behind Graduation Rate only takes into account students who receive the Standard and Advanced Studies diplomas. It does not acknowledge as graduates students who receive the Modified Standard and Special and General Achievement diplomas.

Why did the nation’s governors feel an on-time graduation rate was important? What are the benefits of reporting graduation rates this way?
An On-Time Graduation Rate provides a more accurate picture of what happens to high school students as they move toward graduation. It provides educators and policy makers with a better understanding of how their states’ school districts are performing in the all-important area of preparing students for college or the world of work. This is particularly important because traditionally graduation rates have been built on estimates or by the simplistic method of counting ninth graders and four years later counting graduating seniors.

Why couldn’t Virginia provide the On-Time Graduation rate in the past?
Virginia now has the technology to follow students through its public schools by assigning a unique number to every student. This number, known as a “state-testing identifier,” stays with the student throughout his or her PK-12 career. This unique identifier allowed the state to link the records of students who entered the ninth grade the first time in 2004-05 to their records four years later. The graduating class of 2008 is the first high school cohort for which there are four years of longitudinal data.
 
What about students who take longer than four years to graduate?
The On-Time Graduation Rate recognizes that under state and federal law, students with disabilities and limited English proficiency may take longer than the typical four years to graduate. Therefore, under the new formula they can be factored into the On-Time Graduation Rate for the year in which they graduate.

However, students, other than those with disabilities or Limited English Proficiency (LEP), who are retained sometime along the four-year time period will not count as an on-time graduate.

How are students who graduate early included in the Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate?
Students who graduate early are counted as on-time graduates in the cohort of students that they would have graduated with in the typical four-year time frame.

Will the other graduation rates that are typically shared with the news media going to go away, with the On-Time Graduation Rate becoming the sole way of measuring graduation rates in Virginia?
No, other graduation rates will not go away. Virginia will continue to use the estimated graduation rate as part of its No Child Left Behind implementation plan. It will continue to serve as an academic indicator for calculating Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) ratings for the 2008-09 year. However, school districts remain hopeful that as states come on line with the new On-Time Graduation Rate, there may be a move toward adopting using this as the accepted methodology under No Child Left Behind.

It also must be kept in mind that other agencies have their own methodologies for calculating graduation rates and will most likely continue to promote their findings.