By PETER HUSSMANN
All five high schools located in Jasper County had 2009 graduation rates higher than the state average, a new report from the Iowa Department of Education indicates.
For the first time, Iowa is using a formula adopted by the National Governors Association (NGA) to determine the state's high school graduation rate. The formula, which sets a new baseline for comparing future graduation rates, shows a statewide four-year completion rate of 87.2 percent for the class of 2009.
The graduation rates for Jasper County schools is as follows:
- Baxter - 97.14 percent
- Colfax - Mingo - 97.01 percent
- Lynnville-Sully - 95.24 percent
- Newton - 91.63 percent
- PCM - 90.91 percent
"There has long been a debate about how graduation rates are calculated and what states should use," said Iowa Department of Education Director Judy Jeffrey. "While Iowa has consistently had one of the top graduation rates in the country regardless of which formula was used, the NGA formula provides a common platform for state-to-state comparisons as well as a more accurate account of the achievement of our high school students."
The new formula requires a state to assign each student a unique identification number that helps determine when a student graduates, even if they move to a different school district during their high school careers.
The state's 2009 graduation rate means that 87.2 percent of the students who started ninth grade in the 2005-2006 school year graduated in Iowa in four years or less. It does not mean that 12.8 percent of the students have dropped out because some students remain in high school longer than four years.
Because of the new graduation rate system, comparisons to past years' rates cannot be made. When data is released on the 2010 graduation rates next year, changes between between annual graduation rates will be available.
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