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November 26, 2012

Dear Chief State School Officer:

I am writing to congratulate you on an important achievement in the effort to  ensure that all students graduate from high school college- and  career-ready.  As you know, in October  2008, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) issued regulations setting  forth new requirements for calculating high school graduation rates.  These regulations, which implement critical  provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as  amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), require States and  local educational agencies (LEAs) to report graduation rates using a uniform,  four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate while also permitting them to  calculate and report one or more extended-year adjusted cohort rates.  A key goal of these regulations was to  provide, for the first time, an accurate measure of graduation rate that would in  turn provide parents, educators, and community members with better information  on the progress of their local schools while allowing for useful and meaningful  comparisons of graduation rates across States and school districts.  The regulations also help hold States and  LEAs accountable for improving graduation rates in their schools.

Nearly  four years later, and thanks to a tremendous amount of hard work by you and  your staff as well as your colleagues across the country, I am pleased to  announce the availability of preliminary State-by-State graduation rate data for  the 2010–2011 school year, which are for the cohort entering 9th grade for the  first time in 2007–2008 and meet the requirements of the 2008 regulations.  These State-reported data were collected  through the Department's ED*Facts* system and are enclosed with this letter.   These new rates are more standardized and comparable than previously  available rates, and thus represent a significant improvement in our efforts to  understand and respond to challenges in increasing high school graduation rates  across the nation.

A  regular high school diploma is a gateway credential for college and careers in  the 21st century and helps in ensuring that students are prepared to  obtain the postsecondary education and training required for successful  participation in our competitive global economy.  Raising high school graduation rates for all  students, and all subgroups of students, is essential to reaching the  President's goal of ensuring that, by 2020, the United States will once again  have the highest proportion in the world of adults who are college graduates.  In this context, better, more accurate  graduation rate data should propel us to redouble our efforts to target attention  and resources where they are most needed and can significantly affect student  progress.  We already are seeing in States  and school districts across the country a new emphasis on high school  graduation and, in particular, a long-overdue focus on the roughly 1,500 "dropout factories" that are responsible for up to one-half of the one million  students who drop out of high school each year.   I know you share my determination to help all students graduate from high  school college- and career-ready, and I look forward to working with you to  ensure that these new graduation rate data are used to help identify challenges  and develop strategies and interventions that will reduce the dropout rate and  increase graduation rates across every school and district in the nation.  ****

**ESEA Flexibility  and Graduation Rates**

I  also want to take this opportunity to clarify the impact of ESEA flexibility on  the graduation rate requirements set forth in the 2008 regulations.  As you are aware, I have approved  comprehensive waivers under "ESEA flexibility" for 34  States  and the District of Columbia, granting flexibility from certain provisions of  the ESEA in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive State-developed plans  designed to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement  gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction.  Although a State approved for ESEA  flexibility is no longer required to make adequate yearly progress  determinations if it requested the waiver of that requirement, I want to  emphasize that the Department has not waived any of the graduation rate requirements  of 34 C.F.R. § 200.19(b).

Each  State educational agency (SEA) approved for ESEA flexibility, and its LEAs,  must continue to calculate graduation rates using a four-year adjusted cohort  rate as defined in 34 C.F.R. § 200.19(b)(1), and the SEA must set a single  graduation rate goal that represents the rate the SEA expects all high schools  in the State to meet as well as annual graduation rate targets ensuring  continuous and substantial progress toward that goal—and a number of SEAs increased  that goal under ESEA flexibility.  I am  enclosing with this letter the current graduation rate goal and targets for  each SEA and will make this information available to the public in one easily  accessible location so that it can be used to inform the efforts of SEAs, LEAs,  and schools to increase graduation rates for all students and all  subgroups.  The SEA and its LEAs must  report on State and local report cards, respectively, the four-year adjusted  cohort rate, in the aggregate and also disaggregated by the subgroups in ESEA  section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II), as well as by any "combined subgroup" that an SEA  has included in its approved ESEA flexibility request.  An SEA must also report performance against its  graduation rate goal and targets for all students and all subgroups.

Further,  each SEA approved for ESEA flexibility must incorporate, to a significant  degree, the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate into its State-developed  system of differentiated recognition, accountability, and support.  In addition, each SEA that has received ESEA  flexibility must identify all Title I schools with graduation rates below 60  percent over a number of years, must implement rigorous interventions in those  schools, and must also use graduation rate targets, including for subgroups, to  drive incentives, interventions, and supports in all other Title I schools.

Given  these requirements, the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, as defined  in 34 C.F.R. § 200.19(b)(1), will play a key role in the new State-developed  systems of differentiated recognition, accountability, and support approved  under ESEA flexibility, which also may include other measures of student  achievement and other educational outcomes.   We believe that the State-designed accountability systems implemented  under ESEA flexibility will result in more effective and meaningful  accountability for all schools and students, including all subgroups of  students, and will lead to more effective interventions in schools with low  graduation rates.  The Department is  committed to working with each SEA to ensure full and effective implementation  of ESEA flexibility by providing technical assistance and monitoring  implementation progress.



| | Sincerely, 
| | -----------
| | /s/        
| | Arne Duncan

Enclosures

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Enclosures

Provisional Data File: SY2010-11 Four-Year Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rates download filesMS Excel (35.5 KB)

Provisional Release: Data Notes: Four-Year Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate School Year 2010-11download filesMS Word (33.5 KB)

Approved Graduation Rate and Targets as of November 2012download filesMS Word (147 KB)