Metro Graduation Rate Hurt By Five-Year Finishers

The state is warning dozens of school districts in Tennessee they have to do better, based on student test data out last week. Metro is not one of them, but it’s not at the head of the pack either. One reason for that is a change in how the dropout rate is measured.

In tallying its graduation rate, Metro was used to counting high-schoolers who finished in five years. By that definition, last year Metro was at almost 83 percent. But that rate dropped to more like 76 percent under a new state standard that cuts the timeframe for a diploma to four years and one extra summer.

Schools Director Jesse Register points out Metro has close to a third of the state’s English-language learners, to whom it’s often afforded that full extra year.

“Taking a little bit more time to give them a real academic diploma – because that’s what it is, we don’t water down the diplomas, we expect the same thing of everyone who graduates from us – and time’s a variable that we use. We still have students on five-year graduation plans.”

That won’t change overnight, another official says, adding Metro still considers it a success if a student gets a diploma in a fifth year – even if it counts against the district’s overall rate.