The Delaware Department of Education is pleased to partner with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and XQ Institute in support of Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020, a one-hour, commercial-free prime time graduation special to be broadcast Saturday. During the broadcast, viewers will be directed to XQ’s new Rethink Together online forum, which will feature specific content for each state, including a congratulatory message from Secretary of Education Susan Bunting and stories highlighting the resiliency and strength of students, teachers and schools amid the pandemic.

“The Class of 2020 will be remembered not for what it couldn’t have but for what it overcame. Your leadership, creativity and resilience will be remembered,” Bunting said. “You have adapted to new ways to learn remotely. As school buildings closed, you continued to learn from your kitchen tables or home desks. This has forced you to think differently, often work more independently and manage your time in new ways. All of these are skills that will serve you well in college, the military or your chosen career.”

The national telecast will air on Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific/7 p.m. Central on more than 30 broadcast and cable networks and streaming services, as well as various social media platforms. Rodney Robinson, the 2019 National Teacher of the Year, joins a list of prominent leaders and entertainers in celebrating the Class of 2020. Led by XQ Institute, The LeBron James Family Foundation, and The Entertainment Industry Foundation, the special is being produced in partnership with a broad coalition of education, philanthropic, and corporate partners. In addition, corporate and philanthropic giving associated with #GraduateTogether will benefit DonorsChoose and America’s Food Fund to help meet student needs in some of our nation’s most underserved and under-resourced communities.

States’ involvement was coordinated through CCSSO.

Delaware is pleased to highlight Christina School District Christiana High School senior William Loat-Emory and John Muller, director of theatre and reading specialist at Caesar Rodney School District’s Caesar Rodney High School.

“CCSSO is proud to partner with the XQ Institute on the #GraduateTogether campaign. This event is a bright spot in such a challenging year, bringing together educators, parents, state leaders and other partners in celebrating all students and their accomplishments,” said CCSSO Executive Director Carissa Moffat Miller. “Through this partnership, we are thrilled to make it possible for every graduating senior to hear directly from their state education leaders and the 2019 National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson before they take their next steps after high school.”

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

Graduation rate up, dropout rate down for 2018

Delaware’s public high school graduation rate continues to increase, once again hitting a record high in 2018. The state’s dropout rate also declined.

The annual Delaware Department of Education reports show an overall graduation rate of 86.69 percent in 2018, an increase from 85.75 percent in 2017. 2019 data will be available next year. The graduation rates for several student subgroups – African American, American Indian, Hispanic, low-income, English learners and students with disabilities – also are up from 2017.

The dropout rate saw a slight decrease – 699 of the 41,593 students enrolled in grades 9-12 dropped out for a rate of 1.68 percent, slightly down from the 2017 rate of 1.71 percent.

“Every day educators across our state are focused on the children most at risk for dropping out or not graduating on time. They are diligently working to target interventions and supports that meet their students’ needs. Delaware’s educators deserve credit for these improvements,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said. “We know our work is not done, and we will continue to focus on those students who need more support. We must ensure that every child completes his or her education.”

Graduation rate

The graduation rate tracks the percentage of 9th students who graduate with a regular high school diploma within four years.

While the annual dropout rate provides information about one particular school year and all students enrolled in high school in that year, the graduation rate provides information about a particular group of students followed over the course of high school. It looks at all students who started high school at the 9th grade and how many graduated within four years. For the 2018 data, that means students who started 9th grade in the 2014/15 school year.

The 2018 rate is the highest since the state changed how it calculates graduation rates in 2010-11.

Out of the 10,287 students in the Class of 2018, 8,918 students graduated with a regular diploma.

Not counted as graduates in the required formula are those students who earn certificates; 85 students from the Class of 2018 did so. Also not counted as graduates are those students who remain in school after their fourth year of graduation to continue their education. For the Class of 2018, 151 students remained in school.

For that reason, the state also looks at five- and six-year graduation rates. The graduation rate for the Class of 2016 was 84.66 percent at the end of four years, 85.63 percent at the end of five years and 85.79 percent at the end of six years.

Four-year graduation rate trend data, including subgroup and district/school information, is available in the report.

Four-Year Graduation Rates by Student Group
Class of 2015-2018

Dropout rate

The annual dropout rate is calculated from grades 9 to 12, as prescribed by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), which provides data to the federal reporting system. The rate represents the total number of students (grades 9-12) who dropped out in a single year, divided by the total enrollment of the same school year. Data also is collected from private schools and families who homeschool their children. That information is only used to verify whether students transferred from public to private and home schools.

The annual report also looks at dropouts by student demographic. Statewide in the 2017-2018 school year, of the 699 who dropped out, 282 were white/other, 258 were African American and 159 were Hispanic. Looking at the total student enrollment by demographics for 2017-18, 2.5 percent of Hispanic, 2 percent of African American and 1.3 percent of white/other students dropped out.

The majority of the 699 dropouts were male (432). The largest number were enrolled in the 10th grade (215). Students cited academic, personal and economic reasons for why they left school.

The state report provides analysis based on demographics and geographic breakdowns, including by county and districts/charter schools. For 2017-18, New Castle had the lowest percentage of dropouts (1.5 percent). Kent County’s rate was 1.6 percent while Sussex’s rate was 2.2 percent. Find more details in the report.

Delaware Dropout Summary Statistics, 2006-2018

The reports will be presented to the State Board of Education on Thursday. Find the presentation slides here. Find more historical data here.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006.

Georgetown, DE – Governor Jack Markell, Department of Correction administrators, and representatives from Delaware Technical Community College yesterday celebrated the graduation of 10 offenders from the Sussex Community Corrections Center (SCCC) who completed the culinary program offered at its newly renovated training facility.  That facility and certificate program were established as part of the Markell administration’s focus on reducing recidivism through a series of criminal justice reforms, including the expansion of reentry resources, better coordination among agencies to connect offenders to existing services, and the creation of skills training for offenders to better position them to secure and maintain employment when they return to the community.

This fall, the Department of Correction and Delaware Tech joined together in a partnership that places chef instructors into SCCC’s culinary training facility to provide offenders with classroom instruction and hands-on skills in its commercial-grade kitchen.  Today marked the graduation of the second class that has completed the three-week introductory course that focuses on food safety and basic food preparation techniques.  All graduates earned the nationally-recognized ServSafe food certification and Delaware Tech’s Commercial Kitchen Safety Certification and are now eligible to continue training opportunities through more advanced community-based culinary courses.

“We all believe in you, and we hope that you will believe in yourself and go on to do great things,” Governor Markell said to the graduates.  “We want to set people up for success, and the fact that you have invested your time in this program and have taken an interest in learning new skills indicates your determination to pursue a productive path for your lives.”

“We’ve been working for the past year with the Department of Correction to identify potential programs for offenders who are close to release so that we can provide them with training in four to eight weeks that can lead directly to employment,” said Delaware Tech’s Owens Campus Director of Workforce Development and Community Education Christopher Moody. “The success we’ve experienced with the Commercial Kitchen Safety Certificate training has motivated us to move forward with additional programs like the small engine repair training that will begin in January.”

Department of Correction Commissioner Robert Coupe noted that a career in the culinary field can be fulfilling and that it will connect each new graduate to many significant events in other’s lives.  “Through your work in this industry you will be a part of the lives of so many people who visit restaurants to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions,” he said.  “While you may not know many of your customers, through the magic of food and its ability to bring people together you will play a role in creating many memorable and cherished moments.”

During Thursday’s ceremony, Markell recognized SCCC Warden William Oettel and his team for expanding skills and occupational training programs for offenders and for demonstrating that they can be established cost-effectively.  All funds used to complete renovations to the culinary training facility, purchase its equipment, and pay for the culinary instruction have been generated on-site; no taxpayer dollars were used.  Coupe also recognized the late Matt Haley, founder of Delaware restaurant group SoDel Concepts, for his inspiration, personal support of early culinary training courses at SCCC, and his donation of several pieces of kitchen equipment used by culinary program students.

Over the past year the Department of Correction has partnered with educational institutions and non-profits across Delaware to offer more than a half-dozen certification programs to offenders who are supervised at the DOC’s work release and violation of probation centers.  Most recently, in addition to the 10 offenders who graduated from yesterday’s culinary training program, this week 25 offenders from Wilmington’s Plummer Community Corrections Center received industry certifications through an occupational training program also established in conjunction with Delaware Tech.  Nearly 100 offenders have enrolled in certification programs this year, and the programs will be offered to increased numbers of offenders in 2016.

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Delaware made the greatest gains in high school graduation rates between 2013 and 2014, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday.

The First State, which saw its rate increase from 80 percent in 2013 to 87 percent in 2014, led five states cited by the report as having made the greatest gains. Also cited were Alabama, Oregon, West Virginia and Illinois.

Delaware school and district leaders have credited the state’s improvements in recent years to initiatives such as credit recovery programs, ninth grade academies and targeted interventions. Many of these efforts were initially funded through federal Race to the Top grants that went to the state as well as districts and charter schools. As a result of these investments, students receive additional supports before and during their first year of high school. In addition, schools are more likely to be able to identify students quickly if they are falling off track so they get the support they need before getting too far behind. Schools have targeted ninth graders because research shows that performance during that year is a major indicator in whether a student will ultimately graduate.

Supports have been coupled with improved data systems, which help educators better identify when and how students are falling off-track so they can more effectively target intervention. Teachers also have more time to communicate with their peers to identify and target needed supports thanks to their Professional Learning Communities, designated time during the school day when educators meet to plan and learn from each other about the most effective ways to serve their students.

“This recognition is the result of tireless work by educators and school leaders throughout the state working to meet the needs of every Delaware student,” Governor Jack Markell said. “Rising graduation rates, increased college attendance, and more students taking and passing college-level courses in high school all show that we are making great progress at a time when education is more important than ever. But we can and must continue to do better; we must sustain and improve upon the efforts that are producing these results.”

Acting Secretary of Education Steve Godowsky said he is proud of Delaware’s educators and students, whose hard work has led to these gains.

“We must continue to invest in these and other initiatives that are working to better prepare our students for college and career,” he said. “If confirmed by the Senate, I will work to continue everything from the effective implementation of our rigorous Common Core academic standards to support for our struggling schools to the Pathways to Prosperity initiative, which gives students hands-on learning opportunities in growing career fields to make learning relevant and fun.

“All of these efforts are necessary to ensure we are meeting student needs and keeping every student on a path to graduation and success after school,” Godowsky said.

The preliminary data released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education shows the majority of states – 36 – saw increases in overall graduation rates from 2013 to 2014. Six states saw decreases and eight had no change since 2013. The National Center for Education Statistics is expected to release final graduation rate data – including the nation’s newest graduation rate – in the coming months.

NOTE ABOUT THE DATA: The 2014 Delaware rate reported by the U.S. Department of Education (87 percent) differs from the rate the state reported earlier (84.4 percent), because Delaware includes students in some special schools/programs that are excluded from the calculation used for the federal reporting. The state 2014 calculations also represented a significant increase from 2013, when the state reported a graduation rate of 79.9 percent.​

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The state’s latest high school dropout report, released today, shows a 30-year low in the percentage of students leaving high school before graduation.

 The annual Delaware Department of Education report, presented to the State Board of Education at its monthly meeting today, shows 1,106 of the 38,613 students enrolled in grades 9 to 12 dropped out of school in 2012-13, a rate of 2.9 percent. That is a 1-point decrease from the previous year’s rate of 3.9 percent.

“Educators across our state have been working hard to better identify students at risk and provide the intervention and supports that these children need to ensure they stay in school earlier,” Secretary of Education Mark Murphy said.

“We can celebrate this progress because of their commitment to their students. At the same time, we know challenges remain,” he said. “A high school diploma is essential to a child’s success. We must continue to work to reach those still leaving us before they have completed their education.”

Governor Jack Markell also praised educators for their hard work.

“This trend is a tribute to the innovative and determined work by everyone in our education system to ensure that all of our young people have the best chance to succeed,” Markell said. “It follows recent evidence showing that fewer of our students are falling behind as freshmen, which is a critical indicator of whether they will graduate on time. We still have a lot of work to do, but these improvements should energize our efforts to ensure every student not only graduates high school, but does so ready to pursue college or a career.”

While the state collects data from all public schools including grades 7 to 12, the annual dropout rate is calculated from grades 9 to 12, as prescribed by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), which provides data to the federal reporting system. Data also is collected from private schools and families who homeschool their children. That information is only used to verify whether students transferred from public to private and home schools.

The annual dropout rate, developed by the U.S. Department of Education, is calculated by dividing the number of students who drop out over a one-year period by the October 1 grade 9–12 enrollment, multiplied by 100. Dropouts are those students who dropped out of school between July 1 and June 30 of a given year and did not return to school, graduate, or receive a GED by the following October 1.

The state report (attached) provides analysis based on demographics and geographic breakdowns, including by county and districts/charter schools. For 2012-13, New Castle County had the highest percentage of dropouts (3 percent) followed by Kent (2.9 percent) and Sussex (2.4 percent). Statewide, 44.8 percent of those students who dropped out were black, followed by 42.5 percent white and 12.7 percent Hispanic.

The state also released annual graduation rates today. The graduation rate tracks a cohort of students from 9th grade through high school and represents the percentage of the cohort that graduates within a certain amount of time. This measurement also saw progress with a statewide rate of 79.9 percent, up slightly from 79.6 percent the year prior.

While the annual dropout rate provides information about one particular school year and all students enrolled in high school in that year, the graduation rate provides information about a particular group of students followed over the course of high school. It looks at all students who started high school at the 9th grade and how many graduated within four years. For this year’s data, that means students who started 9^th grade in the 2009/10 school year.

Schools with Increases in Graduation Rate in 2012-13

Supported by local, state and federal Race to the Top funds, districts and schools across the state have implemented local programs to meet their students’ needs.

Superintendent Dr. Freeman Williams credited Christina’s progress to the multiple strategies the district has undertaken. The district saw a dropout rate of 6.1 percent in 2012-13, down from 9.1 percent in 2011-12.

“Beginning last school year, key administrative staff in Christina met monthly with graduation guides, visiting teachers, guidance counselors and staff from our adult and continuing education programs. They centered their monthly meetings on dropout prevention and had robust conversations that helped to frame a systemic approach to decreasing our dropout rate,” Williams said.

Their strategies focused on several key areas, he said: increased awareness of record keeping issues; increased collaboration across schools; increased collaboration among student support personnel (guidance counselors, visiting teachers and graduation guides); adjustments to the district’s service delivery model as it pertains to credit recovery; increased technical and student data assistance for building-level leaders to identify and track progress of students at risk; increased awareness of options available to students who have high risk indicators for dropping out; and expanded partnerships with internal and external resources.

In the Capital School District, Dover High Principal Evelyn Edney also credited its progress – the dropout rate of 2.4 percent is a decrease from the previous year’s 4.9 percent — to multiple strategies that focus on at-risk students. The district’s graduation rate also went from 74.1 to 80.3 percent.

“We are really trying to track the students. Our counseling team has been instrumental in helping to review the data with the administrative team and help to track the students’ progress in classes to indicate interventions that need to be put in place to help the student to become more successful,” she said.

Interventions include extra help sessions with teachers, referral to the 21st Century After School Senator Success Program, double courses in English language arts and mathematics and the creation of a Daylight Program to complement Dover High’s existing Twilight Program. The Daylight and Twilight programs, which primarily support students at-risk for not graduating with their peers, provide a credit recovery avenue. All courses are taken online, and a teacher supports the students in the programs through academic assistance, promoting responsible decision-making and coping skills and building self-discipline.

In the Appoquinimink School District, credit recovery programs also have been key to helping students keep from dropping out. The district’s rate went from 2.1 percent in 2011-12 to 0.7 in 2012-13.

“It starts by monitoring the data, so we know who the kids are that are at-risk of dropping out,” Middletown High Assistant Principal Voni Perrine said. “Once we identify a student, they receive a high level of attention from a team of staff members.”

Middletown’s Twilight program is “a self-paced, computer-based program that’s supported by teaching staff. Students move quickly through concepts they understand and spend as much time as they need in areas where they are weaker. When they’re ready, they can rejoin their classmates and graduate on time – which is an important feature of the program,” Perrine said.

The district also offers students the option to take classes with the Groves Adult Education Program. The evening courses there can supplement their daily schedule.

“The goal is to help students who have fallen behind realize that they can make up for lost time and graduate with their peers,” Perrine said.

Parents also are key partners, she said: “We meet with the family to establish a relationship, identify the challenges the teen is facing, and help that young person set goals to get back on track. Students meet with members of the team on a regular basis to review their coursework, celebrate progress, identify challenges and maintain a positive focus on long-range goals and objectives.”