Georgia’s four-year high school graduation rate rose by nearly 2 percentage points from last year and now stands at 71.5 percent, data released today by the Georgia Department of Education shows.
That rate is still likely to be among the lowest in the nation, but it is an improvement from the 67.44 percent graduation rate of 2011, the first year the federal government went to a new, more rigorous method of calculating graduation rates.
Only Nevada and New Mexico had lower graduation rates than Georgia in 2011. Since that year, states have released their graduation rates at separate times, making state-to-state comparisons difficult.
In metro Atlanta, Atlanta Public Schools saw its graduation rate rise to 58.6 percent, a jump from just below 51 percent the year before. No other district in metro Atlanta had as big a jump as APS, though its graduation rate remains among the lowest in the area.
At 93.9 percent, Decatur City has the highest graduation rate in metro Atlanta, followed by Buford City at 90.3 percent and Forsyth at 89.5 percent.
Cobb’s graduation rate is 76.5 percent. Fulton’s rate is 75.5 percent. Gwinnett is at 72.7 percent, and DeKalb is at 58.9 percent.
The state also released five-year graduation rates, with Decatur City (91.4 percent), Forsyth (88.9 percent) and Fayette (86.1 percent) coming out on top in metro Atlanta. APS’ five-year graduation rate is 52.3 percent, the lowest in metro Atlanta. DeKalb is at 60 percent. Cobb’s rate is 77.6 percent. Fulton’s rate is 73.6 percent, and Gwinnett is at 73.5 percent.
The state has changed its grading system for schools and districts, giving more weight to the four-year graduation rate. Scores from that grading system could be released next week.
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