CCHS graduation rates drop

The Nevada Department of Education released the statewide cohort graduation rate for the class of 2014, which reveals a drop for Churchill County.

The NDE report shows Churchill County School District has been in a steady decline since the 2010-2011 school year. CCSD currently ranks 13 out of 16 in Nevada, but in 2011 it ranked six out of 16. It has a 71.18 percent graduation rate compared to 77.68 percent in 2011.

Statewide, the public high school graduation rate is 70 percent — slightly less than the rate for the class of 2013. Due to enrollment growth, Nevada schools graduated 897 additional students in 2014 from 2013.

Dr. Sandra Sheldon, CCSD superintendent, said the graduation rate for Churchill County doesn’t represent an accurate rate.

“There are several factors that play into the rate that the state puts out,” Sheldon said. “If a students moves out of the district or doesn’t finish high school in four years they are considered a dropout.”

Sheldon said when students leave the district they should be tracked to see if they are moving to another school district or truly dropping out. She said at the moment the district hasn’t done an accurate job on following up with students to see what happened to them and that is creating the decreasing drop out rates that are recorded.

“Not only do we need to follow up with the students, we need to create a better coding system internally to help manage the students leaving the district,” Sheldon said.

If students are dropping out, Sheldon said, the district must develop ways to keep the students engaged with distant learning or career training programs.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has proposed a number of initiatives this legislative session that specifically target the schools and students who need additional support to stay in school and graduate.

“I am confident that these efforts, if approved by Nevada legislators, will help Nevada’s graduation rate improve,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Dale Erquiaga said. “As we continue to expect more from our students, I applaud them for their hard work and I want to thank the families and educators who help Nevada students succeed.”

According to NDE, this is the fourth year Nevada has calculated its graduation rate by using a new formula known as the adjusted cohort graduation rate as required by the U.S. Department of Education. Although all 50 states now report their graduation rates based upon a uniform formula, states award different types of high school diplomas to their students and graduation requirements vary considerably from state to state.

NED also said the DOE collects student-level data from districts in the state’s longitudinal data system entitled SAIN (System of Accountability Information for Nevada), and works closely with district staff to ensure graduation rate data are valid, accurate and agreed upon.