The United States Department of Education (USED) approves graduation rate formulas that states use to generate federal reports. USED expects all states to eventually use the Cohort formula. Until the Cohort formula is available for Kentucky, the USED requires Kentucky to use the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR). The AFGR is scheduled to be Kentucky’s graduation rate formula for three years, with the first report generated in 2011. The data in this document includes the State No Child Left Behind (NCLB) AFGR required by USED as well as the State Kentucky AFGR. The State Kentucky AFGR is adjusted to include graduates with a diploma completing in more than four years and students with severe disabilities that earn a certificate of attainment.
District Factors Impacting AFGR
The AFGR formula is based on the assumption that membership is consistent over time. The formula does not capture district or community factors that may have caused a loss in population over four years, which negatively impact the AFGR, or a gain in population that impacts positively. These factors are grouped into the following categories: Alternate Programs, Economic Issues, Excluded Completers, Small Student Population and Unstable Student Population. A summary of information provided from 31 districts that have district or community factors that have negatively impacted their AFGR can be found below in District Factors Impacting the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate.
First Look at Disaggregation Rates
AFGR allows for the reporting of graduation rates disaggregated by student populations. For the first time, graduation rate data are provided by gender and the following student populations: White, African American, Hispanic and Asian.
Data Interpretation Caution
Small student populations may experience significant percentage changes based upon a few students.
The data files you are accessing are based on documentation provided by school districts, and they have been processed by the Kentucky Department of Education. If you have any reason to believe there are inaccuracies in the data you are reviewing, your concerns should be forwarded to the Office of Assessment and Accountability KDE Assessment mailbox at kdeassessment@education.ky.gov or by phone at (502) 564-9853.