by Andrew Walden
Released today, the Education Week magazine Diplomas Count 2013 graduation figures don’t look good for the Hawaii Department of Education.
Hawaii ranks 44th in the nation for graduation rates with only 67.2% of the students entering 9th grade graduating from the 12th.
From 2000 to 2010, the most recent year for which statistics are available, DoE graduation rates inched up from 62.3% to 67.2%. And the growth is inconsistent, for instance Hawaii lost 2% falling back from the 69.2% calculated for 2009. Hawaii’s 10-year 4.9% increase lags behind the national 10-year average of 7.9% and far behind the genuine stars of the school reform movement; Florida and Tennessee which racked up 10-year gains of 31.5% and 23.0% respectively.
