District Comparisons: Graduation and College Readiness Rates

Today we have two different infographics to share with you as we continue our discussion of the latest graduation and college readiness data from the New York State Department of Education. We’ve already discussed some of our findings in a previous blog post, but promised you more analysis and discussion of this important topic.

First up is an infographic comparing changes in school districts’ graduation rates over the past three school years.We also have an infographic ranking the college readiness rates for school districts for the 2013 graduating class.

Before you dive in, read through this quick background summary of the new data.

Graduation Rate

In 2013, the graduation rate for Westchester County was 85.2%. However, there is significant variation between school districts, ranging from a low of 58.2% to a high of 100.0%. Considerable disparities also exist between students of differing racial and ethnic backgrounds, which we’ll be highlighting in our next post.

(The graduation rates given reflect the percentage of the student cohort that has earned a Local, Regents, or Regents with Advanced Designation diploma by August of the students’ fourth year.)

College Readiness Rate

When we take a look at college readiness, we find that only 47.6% of Westchester’s graduating students were ready for college in 2013, at least from an academic standpoint (it’s worth noting that NYSED recognizes three domains of college and career readiness: academic, socio-emotional, and career-specific). Like graduation rates, school districts’ college readiness rates span an incredibly large range: 7.1% to 89.3%.

(The college readiness rate (the ELA/Math Aspirational Performance Measure) represents the percentage of the student cohort that graduated with a Local, Regents, or Regents with Advanced Designation diploma and earned a 75 or greater on their English Regents examination and earned a 80 or greater on a Math Regents examination.)


After you’ve explored these interactive graphics, share your thoughts in the comments section below:

What steps can we take as parents, educators, community members, and child advocates to help more of our students graduate ready for college?