5/8/08

ThisWeek News

David J. Cross

For the first time in five years, Columbus City Schools graduation rate has dipped.

The district recently reported the graduation rate for the 2006-07 school year dipped to 70.6 percent, 2.6 percent lower than the previous school year.

The decline headed off a half-decade of district growth that saw the graduation rate rise from 56 percent in 2002 to a peek of 72.9 percent in the 2005.

“We offer no excuses,” said Jeff Warner, district spokesman. “While this is certainly a disappointment, looking at the long range picture, we believe our graduation rate will continue to climb to the 90 percent goal.”

The district’s goal is to have a 90 percent graduation rate by 2012.

Warner said the decline stems from new state law surrounding the 10th grade achievement test, better known as the Ohio Graduation Test. Last year was the first where students had to pass the entire test to receive a diploma.

Students had seven chances to pass all five sections of the exam — writing, reading, social studies, math and science.

A total of 316 Columbus students did not pass the OGT last year.

“We had students who had a difficult time with the science portion of that test,” Warner said. “Content has become more and more difficult at the college and high school level.”

Nonetheless, Warner said the district’s trend is still on an upward climb compared to five years ago.

When the new state requirements went into place last year, the district put in place several programs to help students pass the OGT. Among those were tutors and after school programs.

Warner said even if the student did not pass the test and graduate on time, the district is working to keep them on track.

“What we’ve done is to keep students in the system, keep contact with them so they didn’t give up,” Warner said. “We don’t want to remove hope from them. A diploma is essential for their future success.

“We want students to graduate whether it is on time or otherwise.”

Compared to other urban districts, Columbus was on par.

The other large districts were split.

Other districts that dropped were Akron, Canton, Toledo and Youngstown.

Those that increased were Cincinnati and Cleveland.

The largest increase was in Cleveland where the rate rose from 55 to 61.9 percent, while the largest decrease was in Toledo where the rate dropped from 90.4 to 87.6 percent.