The percentage of Coweta County School System high school students graduating on-time rose to 90.5 percent for the class of 2022.
That reflects an increase of 1.2 percent in Coweta’s four-year graduation rate over that of 2021, according to a graduation report released by the Georgia Department of Education on Thursday.. Coweta County’s four-year graduation rate was more than 6 percent higher than the state of Georgia’s 2022 rate, which also increased from 2021 to 2022.
“We saw a dip last year in our graduation rate, and have rebounded this year right at our pre-pandemic levels,” said Coweta Superintendent Evan Horton. “That’s an accomplishment for our high school staff and students, and also a result of a lot of hard work from Pre-K through 12th grade. I am proud of everyone’s efforts.”
“Our students’ performance as reflected in on-time graduation, their achievements on the SAT, and their performance on state Milestones exams seen earlier this year – these are all measures indicative of a good system with good people doing good work,” said Horton.
The “Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate” – also called the “on-time” graduation rate – measures the percentage of students who enter high school together as freshmen (the ‘cohort’) who then go on to earn a diploma within four years. The calculation of the rate adjusts for student transfers.
For the calculation, students who are entering ninth grade for the first time form a “cohort” that is subsequently adjusted by adding any students who transfer into the cohort during the next three years and subtracting any students who transfer out.
Georgia calculates the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rates by dividing the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class. Students who don’t graduate in that cohort may still go on to meet graduation requirements with additional semesters of coursework.
“I commend Georgia’s educators and the class of 2022, and am confident we will continue to see improvements as we expand opportunities for students and invest in the academic recovery of our state,” said State School Superintendent Richard Woods about this year’s graduation rate trends.
Both Georgia and Coweta County graduation rates have seen overall increases since the state began using the four and five year “cohort graduation rate” as a standard measure, as required by federal law.. Coweta County’s graduation rate has remained consistently above the state average during that period, despite having higher standards for graduation than most Georgia school districts under its block scheduling system.
Coweta high schools have used a number of strategies and supports to increase graduation rates throughout that time, including:
- Relevant and challenging instruction by high-quality teachers.
- Individual graduation plans for each student which are closely monitored by faculty.
- Online credit recovery opportunities for students who encounter difficulty in classes, and content-based support and Saturday school opportunities.
- Tutoring available during the day and before and after school.
- Students-support services outside of the classroom including counseling and staff advisors, online facilitator, ELEVATE Coweta Students, and community mentors.
- ELEVATE Coweta Students partnerships working with the most at-risk students.
- Screening for students in math and ELA starting as they transition from 8th to 9th grade and continuing each grading period throughout a student’s time in high school.
- Emphasis on 9th grade readiness and careful scheduling of students
- Innovative scheduling opportunities, including literacy and math focus as well as accelerated and advanced learning opportunities through the Central Educational Center, dual-enrollment opportunities and work-based learning.
- Organizing professional learning communities for teachers and monitoring the impact of those opportunities by department and content area.
- Content nights for parents to encourage family awareness and support for student’s graduation requirements, high school scheduling and academic content.
- Focusing short-term federal funds made available to Coweta County in recent years into additional teaching personnel, tutoring and other initiatives that have addressed learning loss and increased student support.
To see more on state-wide school and district graduation rates from the Georgia Department of Education, go here.
