Data Sources:

• Ohio Department of Education, Interactive Local Report Card, 2011

For more information about sources

Definitions:

• Graduation rate: The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) defines the graduation rate as the percentage of students who entered high school who received a regular diploma or honors diploma during the reporting year, including students who graduated the summer after the 12th grade and students who completed coursework prior to eventually passing all five sections of the Ohio Graduation Test.

Explanations and Caveats:

• The graduation rate formula used by ODE is consistent with National Center for Education Statistics recommendations for calculating graduation rates. The formula is not affected by retention.
• A student who takes more than four years to graduate does not negatively affect a district’s graduation rate because that student would be counted with the next class. The graduation rate is affected when a student either graduates or drops out. A student is counted as a graduate in the year that he or she achieves a high school diploma.
• The graduation rate estimates a true cohort rate (one based on following individual students over time), but does not exactly replicate one because state law does not allow for the collection of student-level data by ODE.