SOMSD graduation rates fall behind state averages - 12th out of 16 Essex Co. school districts

Today's News -Record reports that according to recent information from the NJDOE, while NJ's overall graduation rates went up slightly, South Orange - Maplewood's went down slightly. The graduation rate of 88.4% is the lowest in four years.

2016 - 88.84%

2015 - 90.78

2014 - 92.95

2013 - 89.58

SOMA ranked 12th of 16 school districts in Essex Co. Only West Orange, East Orange, Newark and Irvington were lower.

West Essex Regional 97.79%

Verona 97.39

Millburn 97.2

Essex Co. Vo-Tech 97.18

Glen Ridge 96.92

Cedar Grove 96. 58

Caldwell-West Caldwell 96.02

Livingston 95.57

Nutley 94.11

Montclair 92.11

Orange 90.68

SOMA 88.84

West Orange 84.88

East Orange 74.77

Newark 73.47

Irvington 70.72


That's a sad, sad statistic on a host of levels.


I wonder if this cohort was impacted by the closing of the alternative high school program in Montrose, and being merged back into the main campus of CHS.


We had a LOT of conversation about this in West Orange last year, and the consensus among the reasonable people (as opposed to our contingent of THE SKY IS FALLING types who hate everything and everyone) is that it's a BS statistic due to the way the state calculates it, and those of us with a notable transient population are really hurt by it. The measure is NOT the simple thing it sounds like -- you'd sort of assume it's the inverse of the dropout and flunk out rate, but it's not; it's the % of kids who graduate on time with their classmates in 4 years.

That means if you have kids who disappear at some point during high school -- not ones who officially move and transfer to another school, ones who just LEAVE when their families move -- those count against you.

It means if you have kids who transfer IN from other school systems with lower standards, or who didn't do well inn some classes at other schools, and come to CHS for their let's say junior year shy of credits that kids in CHS would have had at that point, and they can't take extra classes because there's no time in the day and they can't do summer school because it's not offered (the case in WO, at least), they can't graduate in the 2 years they attend CHS with the rest of their cohort -- those count against you, too. (Also, at least at WOHS, part of the issue there is that we require more credits for graduation than the state minimum, so a kid who was right on target to graduate in 4 years in a town with fewer credits required is immediately off target when they come to WOHS; I assume CHS is similar.)

There's some confusion over whether or not special ed kids in a program that by design lasts longer than 4 years also count against the rate; we heard conflicting information on that, and I can't remember what the final answer was.

All in all, it looked to me like yet another bogus measurement designed to make our public schools look bad on paper to help agitate for the corporate takeover of public schools, but I've got a bit of an obsession on that topic, so maybe discount me on that front.





kenboy said:

We had a LOT of conversation about this in West Orange last year, and the consensus among the reasonable people (as opposed to our contingent of THE SKY IS FALLING types who hate everything and everyone) is that it's a BS statistic due to the way the state calculates it, and those of us with a notable transient population are really hurt by it. The measure is NOT the simple thing it sounds like -- you'd sort of assume it's the inverse of the dropout and flunk out rate, but it's not; it's the % of kids who graduate on time with their classmates in 4 years.

That means if you have kids who disappear at some point during high school -- not ones who officially move and transfer to another school, ones who just LEAVE when their families move -- those count against you.

It means if you have kids who transfer IN from other school systems with lower standards, or who didn't do well inn some classes at other schools, and come to CHS for their let's say junior year shy of credits that kids in CHS would have had at that point, and they can't take extra classes because there's no time in the day and they can't do summer school because it's not offered (the case in WO, at least), they can't graduate in the 2 years they attend CHS with the rest of their cohort -- those count against you, too. (Also, at least at WOHS, part of the issue there is that we require more credits for graduation than the state minimum, so a kid who was right on target to graduate in 4 years in a town with fewer credits required is immediately off target when they come to WOHS; I assume CHS is similar.)

There's some confusion over whether or not special ed kids in a program that by design lasts longer than 4 years also count against the rate; we heard conflicting information on that, and I can't remember what the final answer was.

All in all, it looked to me like yet another bogus measurement designed to make our public schools look bad on paper to help agitate for the corporate takeover of public schools, but I've got a bit of an obsession on that topic, so maybe discount me on that front.
"When a student exits or enters a district, it may affect the district’s cohort size, resulting in an adjusted cohort. For example, if a Cohort 2016 student transfers from District A to District B, then District B’s cohort count is increased by one student and District A’s cohort count is decreased by one student. However, if that student dropped out of District A before being successfully transferring to another district, then District A would be responsible for that student and their cohort count would not be adjusted. Rules determining “district ownership” of individual students have not changed and are clearly documented in NJ DOE regulations."
http://www.nj.gov/education/njsmart/download/grad/AnIntroductiontothe4YGAdjustedCohortRate.pdf

Note that given a fifth year, the 2015 cohort raised its rate by three points, to 94 percent. So while there's plenty of room for the 2016 rate to improve, there was still some time, too.


Yes, what you quote is how transfers are handled. Not sure if you're quoting it to dispute my first point or support my second.

cramer said:


"When a student exits or enters a district, it may affect the district’s cohort size, resulting in an adjusted cohort. For example, if a Cohort 2016 student transfers from District A to District B, then District B’s cohort count is increased by one student and District A’s cohort count is decreased by one student. However, if that student dropped out of District A before being successfully transferring to another district, then District A would be responsible for that student and their cohort count would not be adjusted. Rules determining “district ownership” of individual students have not changed and are clearly documented in NJ DOE regulations."
http://www.nj.gov/education/njsmart/download/grad/AnIntroductiontothe4YGAdjustedCohortRate.pdf



I think the much more useful piece of data to look at is the graduation rate for students who start at CHS as freshmen, excluding kids who transfer in and kids who disappear. That number will say a lot more about how well the district is doing, and is much more relevant to home buyers, etc., who are trying to tell how good the schools will be for their child.


Misread what I was reacting to.



kenboy said:

Yes, what you quote is how transfers are handled. Not sure if you're quoting it to dispute my first point or support my second.
cramer said:


"When a student exits or enters a district, it may affect the district’s cohort size, resulting in an adjusted cohort. For example, if a Cohort 2016 student transfers from District A to District B, then District B’s cohort count is increased by one student and District A’s cohort count is decreased by one student. However, if that student dropped out of District A before being successfully transferring to another district, then District A would be responsible for that student and their cohort count would not be adjusted. Rules determining “district ownership” of individual students have not changed and are clearly documented in NJ DOE regulations."
http://www.nj.gov/education/njsmart/download/grad/AnIntroductiontothe4YGAdjustedCohortRate.pdf

You're correct on both points. My guess is that the fact that when students from another district, such as Newark, Irvington or East Orange, transfer to CHS, some of them will not graduate with their cohort. It would be helpful to know how many CHS are in that category and don't graduate with the cohort to which they've been assigned.

The link to the Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate calculation also spells out how special education students are accounted for, and maybe someone can explain how it works. It would also be helpful to know how many students are in that category.



kenboy said:

I think the much more useful piece of data to look at is the graduation rate for students who start at CHS as freshmen, excluding kids who transfer in and kids who disappear. That number will say a lot more about how well the district is doing, and is much more relevant to home buyers, etc., who are trying to tell how good the schools will be for their child.

I may be remembering the statement wrong, but I recall someone stating that when tracking only students that went through SOMSD for their entire school career the numbers, including gaps, were actually very positive. Even if the statement was correct I can't vouch for its validity, perhaps they were just trying to pin the blame on transferring students for some of the low numbers.



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