Fulton County’s high school graduation rate nudged up slightly for the class of 2016, tracking a similarly small increase statewide.
The results are preliminary because not all schools have reported. Fulton had an 86 percent graduation rate, up 0.7 percentage points from 2015.
The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, as it is called, is calculated using the number of students who graduate within four years of starting high school. Prior to 2011, the rate included students who took longer than four years.
Fulton's rate for 2016 was more than 6 percentage points higher than the state average.
The increases come as Georgia has changed graduation test requirements and as many schools have increased the use of online classes in which many students earn credit without mastering the material. Georgia eliminated its High School Graduation Test starting with the class of 2015. Now high school students must take state tests in certain subjects, but they don't have to pass the tests to graduate.
In recent years, many districts too have paid more attention to tracking down students who leave school before graduation in an effort to keep them in school—and avoid labelling them as dropouts which would bring down graduation rates.
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Fulton County Schools: 2015 vs. 2016 Graduation Rates
Ga. Dept. of Education
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