Education Week: Florida’s graduation rate still low, still rising fast

FL EW DC coverThe latest report on Florida’s public school graduation rate tells a familiar but underreported story: The rate continues to be both among the nation’s worst – and its fastest improving.

Florida’s graduation rate in 2013 was 76 percent, putting it 5 percentage points below the national average and No. 43 among 49 states with data to report, according to the most recent federal stats spotlighted via the annual Diplomas Count report from Education Week, released today.

Iowa came in at No. 1, with 90 percent. Oregon was last at 69 percent. Data wasn’t available for Idaho.

At the same time, Florida’s graduation rate rose 5 percentage points between 2011 and 2013. That’s more than twice the national rate and tied for 5th among states in gains. (Nevada led in progress, with a 9-point jump.)

Until last year, Education Week used its own methodology to determine state-by-state graduation rates, rather than rely solely on federal data. In 2013, it reported Florida’s rate ranked No. 2 in improvement between 2000 and 2010, rising 23 percentage points over that span. (That report also ranked Florida No. 34 among states in 2010.)

Graduation rates are dicey to compare state to state because of differences in demographics, graduation requirements and diploma types. Florida is among the poorest of states (it ranks No. 44 in the percentage of students eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch) but has set a higher bar than most for earning a standard diploma (see here and here).

The latest Diplomas Count puts special emphasis on students with disabilities.

Nationally, the graduation rate for students with disabilities in 2013 was 62 percent. In Florida, it was 52 percent. Arkansas took the top spot, at 80 percent, while Mississippi finished last, with 23 percent.

But the report also highlighted just how much Florida students with disabilities are outpacing their peers on national math and reading tests.

For example, 13.2 percent of Florida eighth graders with disabilities scored proficient or higher in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2013, compared to 8.3 of their peers nationally. In fourth-grade reading, Florida students with disabilities outperformed the national average, 19.6 percent to 11.1 percent.

Meanwhile, Florida students with disabilities improved at roughly triple the national rate between 2003 and 2013. In eighth grade math, the average NAEP scores of Florida students with disabilities leaped 20.7 points over that span, compared to 6.4 points nationally.


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BY Ron Matus

Ron Matus is director for policy and public affairs at Step Up for Students and a former editor of redefinED. He joined Step Up in February 2012 after 20 years in journalism, including eight years as an education reporter with the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times). Ron can be reached at rmatus@stepupforstudents.org or (727) 451-9830. Follow him on Twitter @RonMatus1 and on facebook at facebook.com/redefinedonline.