1 Cohort Graduation Rate April 5, 2010 Jonathan Wiens, Office of Assessment and Information Services Oregon Department of Education

2 Cohort Validations Timeline  April 8 – District Validation Window Opens.  April 9 – Technical WebEx on validation and appeals.  April 15, 22, 29 – Refresh of district validation data  May 4 – Validation window closes (please don’t wait until the last week to submit appeals)  May 10 – Final District Preview  May 12 – Press Release

3 What is a Cohort?  A cohort is a set of students who first entered high school (anywhere in Oregon, the U.S., or elsewhere) during a particular school year.  The cohort is the set of students who first entered high school anywhere during the school year. This is the graduating class of  High school entry years are not reassigned when a student transfers between schools.

4 What is the Four-year Cohort Graduation Rate?  The Four-year Cohort Graduation Rate (CGR) is the percent of students who receive a regular diploma within four years of entering high school.  The rate for a particular school takes into account transfers into and out of the school during the four years.

5 How does this rate differ from the NCES rate?  The cohort rate includes adult high school diplomas, modified diplomas, GEDs and non-dropout, non-completers in its denominator as non-graduates.  Early graduates in a cohort are “banked” and reported with their cohort.

6 Federal Policy  The U.S. Department of Education has required that states develop cohort graduation rates by the school year.  Cohort rates must be included on school report cards.  Disaggregated cohort rates must be used in AYP determinations.  Federal regulations and guidance are detailed and prescriptive.

7 State Policy  Oregon will produce a cohort graduation rate for use on the school report cards.  Oregon is seeking approval to use the cohort rate as part of AYP for –We are still awaiting the results of the peer review of our four-year cohort rate.

8 Developing the Cohort  In August 2009 districts were sent a list of the students who were candidates for the cohort.  ODE used data from the following collections to develop these lists: – ADM (04-05 to 08-09) – Early Leavers (04-05 to 07-08) – High School Completers (04-05 to 07-08) – Membership (04-05 to 08-09)

9 Developing the Cohort  Districts returned the lists by October Information included: –A validated cohort year –Additional information on student outcomes  ODE reviewed the returned cohort data.  Students in the district spreadsheets were the basis for the cohort.

10 Cohort Processing ODE used records from the following sources in the production of the CGR:  Annual ADM for to  Early Leavers for to  High School Completers for to  2 nd period Cumulative ADM for  SSID high school entry year  District returned cohort data Note: resident district and school are used for all calculations.

11 Unadjusted Cohorts The unadjusted state cohort is comprised of all students that:  enrolled in an Oregon school district by the end of the school year, and  first entered high school in in any school inside or outside Oregon. An unadjusted cohort for District A is comprised of all student that are:  Members of the unadjusted state cohort; and  whose last enrollment at a district in Oregon was District A.

12 Student Outcomes All students in the unadjusted state/district cohort are assigned an outcome: 1.Graduate: regular high school diploma. 2.Exempt: Transfer, move to home schooling, emigrate, or are deceased. 3.Other Completers: Received an Adult High School Diploma, Modified Diploma, GED or Alternative Certificate. 4.Continuing enrollment in their fifth year. 5.Completed four years without a credential and did not return. 6.Withdrew from school prior to the end of the four-year window.

13 Who is exempted? We remove students from an institution’s cohort if they:  Transfer to another public high school in Oregon;  Transfer to a private school;  Leave for home schooling;  Transfer to a high school in another state;  Emigrate; or  Are deceased. Note: These outcomes must be the last event for the student.

14 Who is NOT exempted? The following situations do NOT exempt a student from an institution:  Transfer to an alternative program within the district;  Transfer to a JDEP.

15 Assigning Students to Districts  By a “district” we mean any regular school district, including YCEP, but excluding JDEP and ESDs.  Students are assigned to an Accountable District as follows: –Regular diplomas are assigned to the reporting district. –Exempted, other completers, non-graduates, and students who withdrew are assigned to the last district they were enrolled at, as evidenced by:  The district in their leaver or completer record (if any – we exclude JDEP and ESD)  Lacking a leaver/completer record in a district we use the last district the student was enrolled in.

16 Assigning Students to Schools  By a “high school” we mean any regular school that receives an AYP report and includes grades 10 or higher.  Once a student is assigned to an Accountable District, we assign students to schools within the district: –Regular diplomas are assigned to the reporting school. –Exempted students, other completers, non-graduates, and students who withdrew are assigned to the last high school (if any) they were enrolled at in their accountable district, as evidenced by:  The high school in their leaver or completer record (if any – we exclude JDEP and ESD, and non high schools)  Lacking a leaver/completer record in a district we use the last high school the student was enrolled at in the district.

17 Adjusted Cohorts The adjusted state cohort is comprised of all students that:  are members of the unadjusted cohort; and  are not exempt. An adjusted cohort for School A is comprised of all student that are:  Members of the unadjusted school cohort; and  Are not exempt.

18 Calculating the CGR The four-year cohort graduation rate for the cohort is calculated as: Number of students in the adjusted cohort who received regular diplomas by August 31, 2009 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Number of students in the adjusted cohort for the district or school

19 Calculating the CGR The CGR will be shown for the following subgroups:  All students  Students with disabilities  Limited English proficient  Economically disadvantaged  Race/Ethnicity  Gender  Migrant  TAG

20 Subgroup Membership  Race/Ethnicity/Gender –Based on student outcome record (or last enrollment record).  Students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, migrant, TAG –Based on whether the student was classified in these subgroups at any time during high school

WebEx on Friday, April 9  This WebEx will be a technical presentation designed to help district staff who are validating their numbers.  It will include more details on the student outcome hierarchy, assigning students to schools, and how to submit appeals. 21

22 Cohort Validations Timeline  April 8 – District Validation Window Opens.  April 9 – Technical WebEx on district validation procedures.  April 15, 22, 29 – Refresh of Data on Validation Window  May 4 – Validation Window closes  May 10 – Final District Preview  May 12 – Press Release

23 Links  Cohort Graduation Rate web page: By Friday, April 9 the web page will include: – Cohort Graduation Policy and Technical Manual – Validation Timeline – Instructions for district validations and appeals – Copy of this WebEx – Announcements and updates

24 Contact Information For more information on the Cohort Graduation Rate, contacts are: Brian Lindsley (primary contact) Brian Lindsley (primary contact) phone: phone: Jon Wiens Jon Wiens phone: phone: Cynthia Yee Cynthia Yee phone: phone: