OGDEN -- Utah's high school graduation rates seem drastically lower for 2011 than they did for 2010, but it's because of a change in the way they are calculated.
Judy Park, state associate superintendent of education, said Tuesday that under a new federal formula, Utah's statewide graduation rate was 75 percent in 2011. Utah's 2010 numbers, according to state calculations, showed a 90 percent graduation rate.
"It's a change in the calculation, not a change in student behavior," Park said.
In the Top of Utah:
* In Weber School District, under the Utah system, the 2010 graduation rate was 90 percent. The same 2010 numbers, when fed through the new federal calculation system, give the district a 2010 graduation rate of 79 percent. By federal calculation, the district's 2011 graduation rate is 78 percent.
* In Ogden School District, under the Utah system, the 2010 graduation rate was 70 percent. Under the new system, it has a 59 percent graduation rate in 2010, and 63 percent in 2011.
* In Davis School District, under the Utah formula, DSD could claim a 93 percent graduation rate for 2010. Under the federal system, the district shows an 82 percent graduation rate for both 2010 and 2011.
* In Morgan School District, under the Utah system, the 2010 graduation rate was 98 percent. Under the federal system, Morgan had a 94 percent graduation rate in 2010 and 93 percent in 2011.
* In Box Elder School District, under the Utah formula, the graduation rate was 95 percent in 2010. Under the new formula, Box Elder had an 81 percent graduation rate in 2010, and 80 percent in 2011.
Park said in reality, Utah graduation rates are improving. Graduation rates have increased 7 percent in the past four years, she said, with significant improvements for at-risk student groups.
So why are the new numbers lower?
In the graduate calculation system formerly used by Utah, special education students with severe mental disabilities were not counted in the potential graduate pool, nor were students who moved away without leaving a forwarding address, took more than four years to graduate, who earned a GED rather than a diploma or who left early for technical training or college.
Now, students falling into all those groups and many more will be included in the formula and counted as non-graduates.
The federal government required all states to begin using the standardized formula this year to make comparisons between the states possible, and to keep state school boards from coming up with formulas that make their graduation results look better than they really are.
Park said the new federal calculation will have some positive effects. It will make schools more motivated to track down students who leave without explanation, or who move away without providing information about their next school.
But Park added that there's an obvious downside to the federal calculation system.
"If you only look at that graduation rate and ignore all of those other students (such as) students who complete the GED and special education students who maybe did not earn a diploma, but who did not drop out, then I think it's a disservice to those students."
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