Definition

The number of students who graduated from public high schools in Alabama
in 2011 and 2012 with regular, advanced, and credit-based diplomas
expressed as a percentage of the total number of students who enrolled
as first year freshmen four years earlier. While the denominator used in
computing the rate includes graduates, completers, students still
enrolled, students withdrawn but still enrolled, students who enrolled
but failed to attend, dropouts, and “others,” it does not include
students from four years earlier who were retained from later classes.
Data are adjusted for students who transferred into, and out of, the
cohort over the four-year period. This method of measuring the
graduation rate is referred to as the “four-year cohort graduation rate”
and reflects efforts to conform to the National Governor’s Association
recommendation in 2005 that states implement a common measure of
graduation beginning with 2010-2011 academic year.  However, the
methodology used in computing the cohort graduation rate remains subject
to variation from one state to another.

Data Source

Data provided by the Alabama State Department of Education.

Notes

Graduation rates herein reported for 2011 and 2012 were computed differently from those reported for earlier years in various editions of the Alabama Kids Count Data Book.  Thus, rates reported for 2011 and 2012 should not be compared directly to those reported for previous years.

Last Updated

2014-01