Arizona high school students are getting diplomas in four years at a rate of nearly 73 per cent – more than 5 per cent higher than the national average.

One in four students in Arizona failed to earn a high school diploma after five years, according to a state study.

The state began tracking the class when the students were freshmen to get a clearer picture of how many students were actually dropping out.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne released results of an Arizona Department of Education 2002 graduation rate study, which tracked 59,753 students who entered ninth grade in the 1998-1999 school year through the end of the 2002-2003 school year.

The study found:

• 76.4 per cent graduated within the five-year period.

• 72.7 per cent graduated in four years.

• 8.1 per cent enrolled in a fifth year of high school.

• 1.3 per cent received a [GED] high school equivalency certificate.

According to Mr. Horne, the most recent statistics compiled by the National Center for Educational Statistics show that on a national level an average of 67.3 per cent of students graduate in four years.

Mr. Horne said Arizona students have shown up unfavorably in previous years because studies comparing them to national averages have been misleading.

“As an example in prior studies, Arizona counted students who received GEDs as dropouts, whereas a number of other states did not,” said Mr. Horne. “The comparisons were, therefore, misleading. The graduation rate that is the subject of the most recent study, by contrast, compares apples with apples, and shows Arizona doing better than the national average.”

FYI

The Web site for the Arizona Department of Education is www.ade.state.az.us —