Marginal gain in Georgia’s high school graduation rate

The state’s four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, as the federal government defines it, is now up 14.4 points from 2012, when it was 69.7%. The rate tracks the status of all students starting their freshman year. Schools must include students who cease attending unless officials can document that they transferred into another school, which then must account for the student.

Some local districts, such as Cherokee, Clayton and Fulton, said their rates were the highest since the state instituted the current formula for determining grad rates in 2011. Their rates were 92.3%, 79.7% and 89.3%, respectively. Cherokee’s rate was 90.8% in 2021. Clayton’s was 76% and Fulton’s 87.7%. Other districts, like Rockdale, had a slight decline, from 82.1% to 81.2%.

Other districts, like Rockdale, had a slight decline, from 82.1% to 81.2%.

Here are the graduation rates for metro Atlanta’s largest school districts:

Atlanta 84%

Cherokee 92.3%

Clayton 79.7%

Cobb 87.4%

DeKalb 76.2%

Douglas 88.2%

Fayette 89.8%

Forsyth 96.4%

Fulton 89.3%

Gwinnett 83.2%

Hall 86.1%

Henry 86.8%

Rockdale 81.2%

Source: Georgia Department of Education.