Black History Month
Black History Month

Graduation rates rising for Gwinnett County’s black students

AJC FILE PHOTO
AJC FILE PHOTO
By
Feb 27, 2017

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution decided during Black History Month to explore how African-American students in Gwinnett County’s school system are performing academically.

Graduation rates have risen over the last three years at a faster rate than the countywide average. The countywide average was still slightly higher among all Gwinnett students, at 79.6 percent.

Their scores on prominent exams such as the SAT has remained about the same, but those scores were more than 100 points below the countywide average. Thirty-one percent of Gwinnett's students are African-American, state data shows.

Here are some numbers that came from the Gwinnett County school district and from state data.

Graduation Rates:

2013-14   70.2 percent

2014-15   75.4 percent

2015-16   77.2 percent

SAT Mean Total Scores:

2013-14   1370

2014-15   1367

2015-16   1371

Gwinnett officials noted that the scores for the 2016 graduating class only includes administration through January 2016 due to the change in the SAT.

About the Author

Eric Stirgus joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001. He is the newsroom's education editor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Eric is active in the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the Education Writers Association and enjoys mentoring aspiring journalists.

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