Adams County districts gain ground on 27J

Their streak on top hasn’t ended yet. For the third year in a row, Brighton School District 27 administrators and teachers are celebrating their lead in graduation rates among high schools in Adams County.
    The district’s graduation rate stayed at 72.9 percent for the class of 2011, which was also the four-year-on-time graduation rate for the class of 2010, according to data released by the Colorado Department of Education.
    “We’ve cut $12 million in 27J and at the same time, we’ve increased graduation rates, we’ve increased ACT scores and we’ve increased student achievement,” Superintendent Rod Blunck said.
    “I’d like to congratulate my colleagues, whether they be classified or certified, the input by the board of education and the increase of graduation as a global end for achievement,” he added.
    The district graduated 636 of 872 students in 2011, compared to 623 of 855 students in 2010.
    The rate includes all of 27J’s high schools – public, alternative and charter – including Brighton Heritage Academy, Brighton High School, Eagle Ridge Academy, Prairie View High School, and the former Brighton Collegiate High School.
    • Brighton Heritage Academy graduated six out of 81 seniors or 7.4 percent.
    • Brighton High School graduated 319 out of 396 students, or 80.6 percent.
    • Eagle Ridge Academy graduated 39 out of 45 students, or 86.7 percent.
    • Prairie View High School graduated 270 out of 342 students, or 78.9 percent.
    • The former Brighton Collegiate High School graduated two out of eight students, or 25 percent in 2011.
    Brighton Collegiate dissolved in the spring of 2010 after a series of scandals. It reopened as Eagle Ridge Academy for the 2010-11 school year.
    “The two referenced graduates were juniors who graduated early (three-year graduates),” said  CDE data analyst Heather Ford-Sajovetz, Because their AYG (anticipated year of graduation) was 2010-11, they are represented in the 2010-11 graduation rate in accordance with the new ‘on-time’ graduation rate calculation.
    “This is the reason why, even after being dissolved, schools may have dropout or graduation rates associated with them,” she added.
    While 27J’s graduation count stabilized at 72.9, the other Adam’s County districts saw some increase in their rates but not enough to catch up.
    Adams 12 graduated around 65.3 percent of its seniors, compared to 61 percent in 2010. Adams 14 increased to 60.8 percent from 57 percent in 2010, while Mapleton Public Schools’ graduation rate - the lowest in the county – came in at 44.3 percent, up from 42.1 percent in 2010.
    Statewide, the graduation rate for the class of 2011 increased 1.5 percent to 73.9 percent as compared to last year. The graduation rate stood at 72.4 percent for the class of 2010, which was the first year after a new formula for calculating graduation rates was established by the U.S. Department of Education.
    Before the new formula, students who took longer than four years to graduate were factored in to the graduation rate. With today’s formula, “on-time” is defined as students who graduate from high school four years after entering ninth grade.
    According to the CDE, between 2010 and 2011 the number of students who graduated increased from 45,144 to 45,846.
    The 2010-11 the state’s completer rate was 76.8 percent, while the 2009-10 completer rate was 75.8 percent. Completers are all graduates plus those students who are not considered graduates but who receive a certificate, a designation of high school completion or a GED certificate.
    In 2010-11, 27J’s completer rate was 75.8 percent.
    The state’s dropout rate decreased for the sixth consecutive year. The rate was reduced by 0.1 of a percent from last year. The 2010-11 rate was 3.0 percent, which translates to a 1.5 percent reduction in the drop-out rate since 2005-06. This represents more than 5,000 fewer compared to the rate just six years ago.
    The dropout rate reflects the percentage of all students enrolled in grades seven through 12 who leave school during a single school year. It is calculated by dividing the number of dropouts by a membership base, which includes all students who were in membership any time during the year.
    School District 27J’s dropout rate was 2.6 percent, 0.4 of a percent less than the state average and 1.1 percent less than the district’s rate of 3.5 percent in the 2009-10 school year.
    For information on the district data, visit www.cde.state.co.us.