State graduation rates show steady improvement
A new report by America’s Promise Alliance, a children’s advocacy group founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, examined high school graduation rates in each state and Georgia’s rate has increased about 7% in eight years.
The report shows that in 2010, Georgia’s graduation rate reached 68 percent. Joanna Fox, one of the report’s authors, says that’s because the state raised academic standards eight years earlier.
“There was an increased emphasis on were children achieving essentially. And I think that has continued as the backbone of much of this work.”
Fox says to keep improving, Georgia needs to continue focusing on standards, support teachers, and step up education programs in colleges that train teachers. She adds the entire state could learn from one example in its own back yard.
“Gwinnett County. Long before anybody else focused on standards, they were focusing on standards. And they have kept up a relentless focus on that despite more than doubling in size as a district,” she continues.
The group’s goal is for each state to achieve a 90% graduation rate by 2020. So far, only Wisconsin has reached that level.
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