Graduation/Completion Statistics: Calculation, Definitions and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Data Collection Site: Student End of Year

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Graduation/Completion Rate Calculations

Data Notes

• The completion counts and rates include all students who graduate in four years with a regular diploma plus students who complete in four years with a HSED or non-diploma certificate. It is important to note that graduates are included in the completer count and rate, therefore the completion counts and rates for any school or district will be greater than or equal to the graduation rate.
• Extended Year (5-, 6-, 7-year) Graduation and Completion rates utilize the same calculations for each applicable AYG cohort.
• Beginning in 2006-07, Colorado school districts could not report students as transfers unless an official request for the student’s educational records is received from the school in question. If this request is not received, the Colorado district is required to report the student as a dropout.

Understanding Graduation/Completion Rates

The short informational video and PPT below provide a high-level overview of the graduation and completion calculations and data collection process.

Video: Graduation and Completion Rates PPT: Graduation and Completion Rates

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Definitions

Graduate:

CDE defines a graduate as a student who received a regular high school diploma upon completion of location graduation requirements (e.g. course work and assessments) and met Colorado’s Graduation Guidelines.

Completer:

CDE defines a completer as a student who graduates with a regular high school diploma, receives a High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED), or receives a non-diploma certificate of completion. It is important to note the definition of completer includes graduates. This means the counts and rates associated with completers will always be equal to or greater than the graduation counts and rates.

Anticipated Year of Graduation (AYG):

The year a student is expected to graduate high school based upon the year they first begin attending a Colorado public high school. An unchanging AYG is assigned to a student as part of the Student End of Year data collection by adding three years to the school year the student first begins ninth grade in the state of Colorado. Transfer students who enter a Colorado public high school for the first time at an upper grade level are assigned an AYG in a similar manner, adding two years to the school year for tenth graders, one year for eleventh graders, and assigning the current school year to twelfth graders since they are expected to graduate at the end of the school year.

Anticipated Year of Graduation (AYG) Cohort:

The count of all students in a district/school/subgroup with the same anticipated year of graduation.

Instructional Program/Service Type (IPST):

Services provided by schools and/or districts for students identified as belonging to one or more of the categories below at any point during their high school career (grades 9-12):

• Students with Disabilities: Students who have been formally identified as having physical or health conditions that may have a significant impact on the student’s ability to learn and therefore warrant placing the student on an Individual Educational Program (IEP).
• English Learners (Multilingual Learner): Students who have been identified as Non-English Proficient (NEP), Limited English Proficient (LEP), or Fluent English Proficient Monitor Years 1 and 2 (FEP Monitor 1, FEP Monitor 2). Non-English Proficient is defined as a student who speaks a language other than English and does not comprehend, speak, read, or write English. Limited English Proficient is defined as a student who comprehends, speaks, reads, or writes some English, but whose predominant comprehension or speech is in a language other than English. Fluent English Proficient students in year 1 or 2 of monitor status are students who have spoken, or currently speak, a language other than English, but who can comprehend, speak, read, and write English comparable to their monolingual English-speaking peers. Districts must provide language services to all English Learners.
• Economically Disadvantaged: Student qualifies for either the free or reduced lunch program. The Federal National School Lunch Act establishes eligibility for the reduced-price lunch program for families with income up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level (in 2009, this amount was $39,220 for a family of four). Families with income up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level qualify for the free lunch program (in 2009 this amount was $27,560 for a family of four).
• Migrant: Students enrolled in a specially designed program for children who are, or whose parent or spouse is a migratory agricultural worker, and who, in the preceding 36 months, in order to obtain, or accompany such parent or spouse in order to obtain, temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural work has moved from one school district to another.
• Title 1: Students in schools receiving grants under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) who are beneficiaries of educational resources paid with those Title I funds. For schools that operate schoolwide (SW) Title I programs, all students are considered Title I and are eligible for support and services. For schools that operate targeted assistance (TA) Title I programs, only students identified as at risk of failing to meet Colorado’s academic achievement standards who receive supports and services paid with Title I funds are considered Title I students. School Title I designation and grant formulas are based on the numbers of students eligible for free or reduced cost meals (FRM).
• Homeless: According to the McKinney Act, a “homeless individual” lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.
• Gifted and Talented: Students who have been formally identified, using district wide procedures aligned with CDE guidelines, as being endowed with a high degree of exceptionality or potential in mental ability, academics, creativity, or talents (visual, performing, musical arts, or leadership.
• Military Connected: Students who have a parent or guardian who is an active-duty member of the Armed Forces or on full-time National Guard duty.
• Foster: Students in foster care as reported to CDE by the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS).

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What is an Anticipated Year of Graduation (AYG)?

A: An Anticipated Year of Graduation, or AYG, is an unchanging year assigned to a student when they enter a Colorado public high school for the first time, typically in 9th grade. When a student initially enters the ninth grade in Colorado, as part of the Student End of Year (SEY) data collection, an anticipated year of graduation is assigned for four years later. Students entering above ninth grade are assigned based upon their grade level on or after October 1st of that year. A tenth-grader is assigned an AYG three years later, an eleventh-grader—two years, and a twelfth- grader—one year. It is important that a district records the appropriate grade level in their Student End of Year data collection.

Q: What if a tenth-grader transfers into a district from out of state, but he/she only has enough credit for a ninth-grade placement?

A: In this situation, a district should record this student as a ninth-grader in the Student End of Year collection. Otherwise, a first record of tenth-grade in EOY for this student will result in the expectation that this student will graduate in three years, which will be reflected in his or her assigned anticipated year of graduation.

Q: What happens if a student is retained in third grade? Will that impact their anticipated year of graduation?

A: No. The anticipated year of graduation is assigned when a student enters ninth grade for the first time in Colorado. This assignment process accommodates the infrequent instance where students briefly enter ninth grade before being retained in eighth grade on or prior to Oct. 1 in the Student End of Year data collection.

Q: What if a student is retained during high school? Will that impact the four-year graduation rate?

A: Students who are retained in ninth grade or later may adversely impact the four-year graduation rate unless intensive educational services are provided for them to catch up and complete high school in their anticipated year of graduation.

Q: What students typically don't graduate in four years?

A: Students who interrupt their coursework for a semester or more (for work, health issues or any reason at all), or students who start off below grade level may require additional time to complete high school and thus may not graduate in four years. The five-year, six-year and seven-year graduation rates will account for these students.

Q: How will districts get credit for students who take longer to graduate?

A: A series of rates will be produced to show a district's progress in meeting the needs of all students in a graduating class. Five-, six- and seven-year graduation rates will be produced. Early graduates will be reflected in three-year rates available to districts through the secure Colorado Education Data Analysis and Reporting System. Three-year rates are not posted publicly to protect student data privacy due to small student group sizes. All early graduates are incorporated into the 4-year graduation rate for an anticipated year of graduation cohort when this data is publicly available.

Q: If a district recovers dropouts, won't that hurt its on-time graduation rate?

A: Possibly, depending on the student's previously assigned AYG. However, the district's five-, six-, and seven-year rates will subsequently increase, and the district's re-engagement rate will reflect efforts to serve former dropouts.

Q: How will the continuation of dropout recovery efforts impact a district's accreditation because these students take longer than four years to graduate?

A: A series of rates will be produced showing a district's progress in meeting the needs of all students in a graduating class. Five-, six-, and seven-year graduation rates will be produced.

Q: How will students enrolled in the five-year Accelerating Students through Concurrent Enrollment (ASCENT) program be counted?

A: Students in the ASCENT program will be counted as graduates in the four-year graduation rate as long as they have met graduation requirements. Students in five-year programs who meet graduation requirements in the fifth year will be included in the five-year extended graduation rate.

Q: How will students enrolled in the six-year Teacher Recruitment Education and Preparation Program (TREP) or Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH) program be counted?

A: Students in the TREP or P-TECH programs will be counted as graduates in the four-year graduation rate as long as they have met graduation requirements. Students in six-year programs who meet graduation requirements in the fifth or sixth year will be included in the five- or six-year extended graduation rate as applicable.

Q: How will the four-year graduation rate impact a school for those students on IEPs who take longer than four years to graduate?

A: Students who do not graduate in four years do affect the four-year graduation rate. However, if these students earn a diploma within the following three years, they will be recorded as part of the five-, six-, or seven-year graduation rates.

Q: Does the four-year graduation rate trump IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) exception provisions?

A: No. The federal IDEA (34 CFR §300.101) states that a “free appropriate public education [FAPE] must be available to all children residing in the state between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities.” The Preamble to the Act (34 CFR §300.102) in the Federal Register explains further that “the calculation of graduation rates under the ESEA for AYP purposes (34 CFR 200.19(a)(1)(i)) does not alter the exception to FAPE provisions in § 300.102(a)(3) for children with disabilities who graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma, but not in the standard number of years.”

In Colorado, FAPE is available until age 21, even though the child would not be included as graduating for AYP purposes under the ESEA. In practice, though, there is no conflict between IDEA and ESEA. The U.S. Department of Education interprets the ESEA title I regulations to allow states to propose a method for accurately accounting for students who legitimately take longer than the standard number of years to graduate.

Q: How will students with disabilities participating in Secondary Transition be counted?

A: Beginning in 2020-2021, students with disabilities who participate in Secondary Transition will be counted as graduates in the four-year graduation rate as long as they have met graduation requirements. Otherwise, the student will be counted as a graduate in the applicable extended year rate in which they meet graduation requirements (five-, six-, or seven-year).

Q: Does the four-year graduation rate include students in state-operated programs, eligible facilities, and private schools?

A: No; rates are only calculated for public schools.

Q: Why doesn’t the high school completer, still enrolled and dropout rate add up to 100%?

A: Adding the dropout, completer (which includes Graduates and HSED completers), and still enrolled rates will not equal 100%. These rates will not add up to 100% because the completer and still enrolled rates use a set of students based on graduation cohort rather than the annual count of students used for the dropout rate.

The dropout rate is calculated based on all students enrolled within the district between the 7th and 12th grade for the current year. It is an annual calculation of students who dis-enroll without providing documentation of transfer. If a student drops out of school in 2017-18, they will be counted in the 2017-18 Dropout Rate even if they later re-enroll in the 2018-19 school year.

The denominator for the graduation, completer, and still enrolled rate is based on the students with a common anticipated year of graduation (AYG). A student’s AYG is set when a student enters the 9th grade. Four years are added to the current school year and this will become the student’s AYG. All students who last attended a school with a common AYG are grouped together and this set is used to calculate the graduation, completer, and still enrolled rates. Students who drop out of a school will remain part of that school’s AYG cohort group until they re-enroll elsewhere or provide documentation of their educational status.

As a result, the students within the set of data used to calculate the graduation, completer, and still enrolled rate is not the same as the group of students used to calculate the annual dropout rate. Since these calculations use two different sets of data, it does not make sense to add the percentages associated with these calculations together. Typically, the denominator for the graduation, completer, and still enrolled rates will be much smaller than the number of students used to determine the dropout rates because the dropout rate represents all students in the 7-12^th grade range.

Q: Why did Colorado's graduation rate calculation change in the 2009-2010 school year?

A: The U.S Department of Education asked all states to implement a four-year graduation rate so that data would be more consistent in cross-state comparisons. In prior years there were a wide variety of different methods used across the nation to calculate graduation rates.

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Student Data Privacy

Data privacy guidelines are applied to publicly reported district and school level dropout rates to maintain student data privacy. The methods for student data privacy include blurring of membership base sizes with small populations, blurring membership base sizes for subgroups with small populations, and top/bottom masking of rates. While complicated, these methods ensure student data is protected while providing transparent information regarding dropout rates as much as possible. 

Visit the graduation, dropout, mobility rates: aggregate data privacy page for detailed information.

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For additional information, email Reagan Ward