Nine out of 10 members of Arkansas' high school Class of 2018 graduated within four years, continuing a recent upward trend in the graduation rate, state Department of Education leaders announced Friday.
The agency released statewide graduation information in advance of the April 15 annual online posting of school-by-school and district-by-district annual performance reports that will include the latest graduation rates and other data for the state's public education systems.
Specifically, the statewide statistics show that 89.2 percent of 2018 high school seniors graduated on time last spring -- a total of 31,446 graduates, Kimberly Friedman, an Education Department spokesman said. That was up from an 88 percent graduation rate in 2017, 87 percent in 2016 and 84.9 percent in 2015.
State leaders were pleased with the upward trend.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key said the increases were "worthy of celebration."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he applauded educators.
"This is one of the most satisfying educational statistics that we've received in recent years," the governor said. "The fact that our graduation rate continues to improve in Arkansas shows that we are on the right path in terms of education in all categories, from minority students to economically disadvantaged students."
The graduation information -- disaggregated by demographic groups -- shows that black students made the greatest improvements in recent years, followed by economically disadvantaged students.
A total of 85.6 percent of black seniors graduated in 2018. That's compared with 83.4 percent the year before, 81.5 percent in 2016 and 77.5 percent in the Class of 2015. That was an 8.1 percentage-point gain between 2015 and 2018.
The graduation rate for students from low-income families improved by 5.1 percentage points since 2015. A total of 86.8 percent of 2018 graduates from low-income families graduated last spring, compared with 84.9 percent in 2017, 83.8 percent in 2016 and 81.7 percent in 2015.
A total of 91.2 percent of white students graduated on time in 2018, compared with 90 percent the preceding year, 89.2 percent in 2016 and 87.4 percent in 2015.
Hispanic students had an 85.8 percent graduation rate in 2018 compared with 84.5 percent in 2015.
Students with disabilities had an 84.6 percent graduation rate in 2018, up from 81.9 percent in 2015.
English language learners -- students for whom English is not their first language -- had a graduation rate of 82.7 percent in 2018, which was better than the 2017 rate of 82.1 percent but below the 2015 rate of 85.9 percent.
"Graduation rates reflect the 13-year journey students take from kindergarten through the twelfth grade," according to the Education Department's news release on the high school data.
"From learning to read in elementary school and exploring career options in middle school to honing skills and pursuing advanced, rigorous academic courses in high school, the effort and dedication from students and teachers each year are reflected in the rates," the notice stated.
The April 15 release of the school and district comprehensive performance reports will include graduation data on additional subgroups of students, including boys, girls, and those who are homeless, in foster care, whose parents are in the military, in gifted and talented education programs, and migrant students.
That latest version of the state report card containing reams of statistics related to 479,258 public school students will be available on the Education Department's My School Info website: https://myschoolinfo.arkansas.gov.
Metro on 04/06/2019