Star Ledger - N.J. high school graduation rates climb 3 percentage points to 86 percent"...This is the second year state officials have used a new, federally mandated formula to calculate the percentage, which had historically been among the highest in the nation..."

The Record - New Jersey's high school graduation rate edges up to 86 percent

Wednesday December 5, 2012, 1:00 PM

BY LESLIE BRODY

2012 assessment reports
2012 graduation rates

New Jersey’s graduation rate edged up slightly to 86 percent last spring, from 83 percent in 2011, the state Department of Education said Wednesday.

The new data came as part of a huge release of districts’ test scores from spring 2012, including the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge for Grades 3 through 8 and High School Proficiency Assessment for Grade 11.

The graduation figure means 86 percent of the freshmen who entered high school in 2008 got diplomas in four years. This release marks the second time the state used a federally mandated rule for calculating graduation rates, which tracks freshmen and adjusts for transfers in and out. This method aims to be more accurate than earlier ones, and makes it easier to compare states, which used to have varying accounting systems.

Federal data announced last week for the Class of 2011 showed that 11 states had higher four-year graduation rates than New Jersey, which had long boasted one of the top graduation rates in the country. Under the old system, New Jersey claimed a 95-percent graduation rate, based largely on districts’ reports of how many students declared they were dropping out.

Last week Education Commissioner Chris Cerf predicted graduation rates for the Class of 2012 would rise a bit as districts got used to tracking students using the new rules.

Many districts have shared their 2012 test scores with their communities in recent weeks, but Wednesday’s release gives all district results together so they can be compared.

Email: brody@northjersey.com

Star Ledger - N.J. high school graduation rates climb 3 percentage points to 86 percent

By Jessica Calefati/The Star-LedgerThe Star-Ledger on December 05, 2012 at 2:26 PM, updated December 05, 2012 at 2:45 PM

TRENTON — Graduation rates among the state's 392 public high schools increased three percentage points to 86 percent in 2012 compared to the previous year, according to statistics released today by the state Department of Education.

This is the second year state officials have used a new, federally mandated formula to calculate the percentage, which had historically been among the highest in the nation.

State Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf said the new formula is more "honest" and linked the positive change to state-led reform efforts in some of the state's largest, most troubled school districts. In Newark, for example, the proportion of students earning high school diplomas increased 7 percentage points between 2011 and 2012.

"The results for schools undergoing intensive turnarounds this year are particularly very encouraging, showing that while our achievement gaps across the state are persistent and unacceptably high, we can close them with dedicated support and intervention," Cerf said in a statement.

Groups of students that have struggled to graduate from the state's public schools are doing better. The rate of African American graduates increased six percentage points to 75 percent and the rate of poor graduates increased five points to 73 percent, the statistics show.

The state Department of Education also released the results of NJ ASK tests elementary and middle school students in grades 3-8 across the state took this spring, which held steady compared to last year.

The percentage of students who passed the NJ ASK test's language arts section this year decreased by one percentage point to 65.89 percent in language arts. The percentage of students who passed the test's math section this year decreased less than one percentage point to 75.34 percent.