Graduation Rates of Districts Released

Progress reports are out for several local school districts and many of them need improvement.  The Austin Chamber of Commerce Progress Report looks at college readiness and high school graduation rates.

"There's a lot of work to be done on college readiness, although there was some improvement, but the biggest challenge is high school graduation rates," said David Reiter, chair of the Community Education Progress Report Task Force.

School officials say tougher graduation requirements and a growing number of students who don't speak English as their first language are contributing to lower graduation rates.

"We are working really hard but I think parents really have to get involved too. We expect and we need our parents to be our full partners," said Manor Superintendent Andrew Kim.

A national study released earlier this month by Education Week paints an even bleaker picture of local graduation rates.  That report calculated Austin ISD's graduation rate at just 60% and Manor's at 46%.

Local school officials have criticized the Education Week report because it uses a statistical model that overlooks students who move to different high schools.

"Those can negatively count against the graduation rates so just keeping up with young people is sometimes a challenge," Dr. Barbara Gideon of Pflugerville ISD.

The Austin Chamber of Commerce used actual student information for their progress report.

Here's a list of the nine school districts included in their progress report and their corresponding graduation rate for 2007 and 2006.

School District 2007 2006

Eanes ISD 96% 95%
Hays ISD 84% 85%
Round Rock ISD 83% 86%
Leander ISD 81% 83%
Pflugerville ISD 79% 85%
San Marcos ISD 76% 76%
Austin ISD 75% 77%
Bastrop ISD 73% 82%
Manor ISD 69% 74%