DC Charter Sector Graduation Rate Exceeds State Average

The graduation rate for public charter schools for academic year 2017-2018
over a four year period has come out at 72.4 percent, while the graduation rate for the state, for both public charter schools and DCPS, has dropped by 3.9 percent to 68.5 percent this year, according to a report published by D.C. Public Charter School Board.

The graduation rate of public charter schools for the past five years is at 80.9 percent. Graduation rate is the number of students who graduate from high school in four years.

The report also found that more Hispanic and English Learners are graduating. “The graduation rate for all students shows similar trends as last year. Roughly 85% of the graduates in public charter schools are African American students, and although the graduation rate declined by 2.2% percentage points, this year’s rate of 70.4% exceeded the graduation rate of all students citywide, and the national rate for Black students,”  the report states, adding that the graduation rate for English learners (ELs) at public charter schools was notable as they “outpaced the state rate at 75.8%, a 5.0 percentage point increase from SY 2016-17.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said more needs to be done so that more students can graduate from district schools. “These results reinforce what we know. Even though we’ve come a long way, we have more work to do,” said Bowser.

According to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Asian and white students have graduation rates of around 90 percent. The graduation rate for Latino and African-American students is in the mid-60s.

“OSSE will work to support the work of our colleagues at DCPS and charter schools to ensure that every student not only graduates, but leaves ready to take on challenging college-level work and enter career pathways,” said Hanseul Kang, State Superintendent of Education.