BALTIMORE (WMAR) — Baltimore City Public Schools published a release with data from the Maryland State Department of Education that states that graduation rates have increased for all students, while drop-out rates have declined.
Officials say 72.2 percent of the Class of 2018 graduated in four years, which is a 1.5 point increase since the previous graduating class. Data also shows that that increase is the largest gain in more than five years, and it's a 10.7 percentage point gain in the past eight years.
In addition to that, state officials also saw an increase in demographic groups and students facing language barriers. According to the report, English learners had the largest increase with a 10.2 percent gain.
As a result of the increase of high school graduates, fewer students are dropping out across most subgroups. There was a slight decrease in drop-outs from 15.9 percent in 2017 to 15.0 percent in 2018. However, the drop-out rate for students with disabilities has increased by 1.2 percent.
“City Schools is on an upward trajectory,” said Cheryl Casciani, chair of the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners. “We saw gains on the statewide PARCC assessments at the beginning of the year, and these improvements in graduation and drop-out rates give an indication that students at all grade levels are benefiting from our deliberate focus on excellence and equity. As implementation of our blueprint continues, I’m looking forward to even more success for our students and schools.”
