High School Graduation Rate – Missouri

Missouri, Illinois adjust to changing graduation formula, By Jessica Bock, November 21, 2011, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “For years, comparing high school graduation rates between Missouri and Illinois – or any other state for that matter – was difficult to impossible. The numbers simply didn’t match. Education officials in each state had their own way of calculating the percentage of students graduating each year. Some, like Missouri, accounted for certain students who needed more than four years to earn a diploma. A few included in the equation those who had obtained equivalency diplomas. Others were thought to have inflated graduation rates because of poor tracking of dropouts. In data released today, Missouri for the first time is publishing a graduation rate under a new formula – mandated by the federal government – that makes it easier to make comparisons across the country…”