Are graduation rates underrepresented for area high schools?

ASHWAUBENON – For many high school students receiving a high school diploma, completing state statute graduation requirements within a four year period is an accessible goal.

However, completing high school through these traditional requisites is not a viable option for all.

Ashwaubenon High School’s 2024 graduating class consisted of 214 students who were eligible to graduate.

Of that number, 197 became regular diploma graduates, leaving 17 students to be listed as drop outs.

But Ashwaubenon’s 92% graduation rate is only a reflection of traditional diploma graduates, as opposed to the total number of high school completers.

“The myth behind it is if they’re not a graduate, they’re a drop out,” said Michelle Ring-Hanson, an assessment and data specialist at CESA 7 in Ashwaubenon.

Ring-Hanson has been working as an accountability trainer for all 38 districts in the local region for the last 10 years.

“(We want to) explain to the public what that really looks like when you don’t have everybody graduating,” said Tammy Nicholson, Ashwaubenon’s Director of Pupil Services.

“Our purpose really is here to help kids graduate from school with a credential so that they’re able to go on and be successful in whatever they choose to do. The state has that four year deadlock date that they look at, but there are kids that just need more,” Nicholson added.

Of the 17 “drop outs,” seven students continued their education to receive a High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED).

An additional six students continued to complete their General Education Development (GED) or a diploma in a seven year time period.

This seven-year program is a part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Something to note about these additional pathways that students can pursue in place of a high school diploma is that HSEDs and GEDs are not lesser degrees, as Ring-Hanson explained.

In other instances, students who are unable to obtain documentation to stay in the country and continue education through graduation are also listed as nongraduates, and therefore viewed as drop outs when as far as graduation rates are concerned.
These continued education pathways correct Ashwaubenon’s most recent graduation rate from 92% to 99.

In addition to the alternative options utilized by the 15 misrepresented students in Ashwaubenon’s most recent graduation rate, there are a handful of other options for young adults to receive an equivalent degree to a high school diploma.

One of these options includes Project SEARCH, which offers alternative workforce plans for students with disabilities.

Another roadblock that some students may face when working towards a degree are the specificities of graduation requirements.

The number of credits mandatory for graduation, as well as other expectations, vary by district.

But although Ashwaubenon’s true graduation rate is significantly higher than what the state releases, there were still two drop-outs in the 2024 graduating class.

Ring-Hanson, though, chooses not to see this as strictly negative.

“As a community and as an educator, for 32 years, I always believed that it was our job to help understand and support students who leave school before graduating, rather than using it as a judgment. So I’d like, when we talk about dropouts, reframe it as what are the opportunities to re-engage those students and bring them back into an educational setting so that they can earn a high school completion credential or a diploma,” she said.

Nicholson and Ring-Hanson are both continuing to work to aid local students in any way possible in obtaining the best degree for them.

“Graduation rates don’t reflect student growth and they don’t necessarily predict post secondary success. They’re telling us a story about the student meeting the credit requirements and other graduation requirements to earn a regular diploma in a school district. But as we know, everyone can start a race at the same time, but some might finish behind others, and those extended timelines are for the benefit of students receiving a regular diploma. If a student hasn’t met the requirements by the four year rate, the schools are doing everything they can to ensure that students who have the eligibility for a regular diploma receive that regular diploma by the seventh year and are picked up as graduates in that seventh year.”