Idaho’s high school graduation rate made solid gains in 2018, and for the first time topped 80 percent.
According to the State Superintendent of Public Schools Office, the latest graduation rate comes in at 80.6 percent, up from 79.7 percent each of the past two years. The growth in four-year graduation rate is particularly encouraging as 2018’s graduating class was larger than 2017’s by 370 students – up to 18,429.
Lewiston’s graduation rate was 84.9 percent, while Orofino was 80.6 percent. 90 of Idaho’s 210 school districts, both rural and urban, – or about 43 percent – reported graduation rates of 90 percent or higher, including Genesee, Troy, Cottonwood, Nezperce, Kendrick and the Whitepine districts, while Culdesac was one of 18 schools that achieved 100 percent graduation rates this past year.
The State Department of Education also said it is taking an additional step to measure graduation rates by tracking students who did not graduate within the four-year window, and see if they graduate in a fifth year. Factoring in the fifth year, the 2017 graduation rate improved to 82 percent.
The U.S. graduation rate was 84.1 percent in 2016, the last year in which national numbers are available. That year, Idaho’s graduation rate ranked 40th in the country. (Idaho State Board of Education, IdahoEdNews)
