San Francisco's graduation rate rises

Press Release

The California Department of Education (CDE) has released its 2014-15 Cohort Outcome Data, which includes graduation rates as well as A-G course completion rates.  San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) rates continue to improve and exceed statewide rates.

SFUSD’S cohort graduation rates

 With a rate of 84.9 percent compared to the state rate of 82.3 percent, SFUSD has a higher graduation rate than the state average for students who started high school in 2011 and graduated in 2015.

This year’s cohort data represents a 2.8 percent increase for SFUSD since 2011-12 and a 7.7 percent increase since 2009-10.

"When more of our students are graduating it's like the Warriors winning a game,” said Superintendent Richard Carranza. “It shows our team of educators, parents and community partners are working together to ensure students score. And, we've even raised the height of the basket with more college-ready graduation requirements. This is indeed cause for celebration. When graduation rates rise everyone wins." 

Using early warning indicators to identify students in need of extra support

This is the first cohort where some students were identified through SFUSD data to be at risk of not graduating.  SFUSD created a system in 2012-13 to identify students who were not on track to graduate and provided additional academic and social-emotional supports. Schools tracked student progress toward graduation over the full four years. See figure 1 for year-by-year analysis.   

"With more San Francisco students graduating ready to pursue their dreams in college and careers, SFUSD has a lot to be proud of,” said School Board President Matt Haney. “We set higher standards for graduation and provided the support for our students to meet a higher bar, and they did."

SFUSD’S subgroup cohort graduation rates

The graduation rate also increased from last year to this year for almost all subgroups (Latino, African American, Filipino, Asian, Pacific Islander). White student graduation rates decreased by 2.6 percent.  

For its African-American graduates, SFUSD rates are 71.8 percent, which is above the state average of 70.4 percent.  Statewide, the increase in the African-American graduation rate was 2.6 percent, in contrast with an increase of 6.9 percent for SFUSD. This is the largest increase for SFUSD in the last five years. 

SFUSD saw similar success with Latino students. The state graduation rates for Latino students increased by 1.9 percent, whereas it increased by 3.4 percent in SFUSD.   

 

 

12th-grade graduates completing all courses required for UC/CSU entrance

SFUSD requires that all students complete the A-G course sequence in order to graduate.  For SFUSD, approximately 60 percent of students completed the course sequence with a C or higher. SFUSD students may still graduate with a grade lower than a C, but they will not meet the eligibility requirements for entrance into a California State University.   The statewide rate of A-G completion with a C or higher is 43 percent. 

SFUSD cohort graduation rates higher than their peers

San Francisco continues to be one of the highest-performing districts compared to other similar districts while maintaining more rigorous graduation standards.

School successes in cohort graduation rates

 

• Eight schools had a schoolwide graduation rate of 90 percent or higher: Lowell, Wallenberg, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, Washington, Burton, Lincoln, Balboa, and Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Five schools made double-digit growth in their graduation rates over five years: Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, Wallenberg, Balboa, Burton, and Mission
• Three schools saw over 5 percent growth in one year: Academy of Arts and Sciences, Burton, and Mission
• Two alternative schools, S.F. International (increase of 27.9 percent) and Independence HS (increase of 18.3 percent) made significant one-year gains
• Five schools had a rate of 90 percent or higher for African-American students: Lowell, Wallenberg, Washington, Lincoln, and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts
• Eight schools had double-digit increases in graduation rates for African-American students over the past five years: Wallenberg, Galileo, Burton, Balboa, Lincoln, Washington, O’Connell, and Mission
• Four schools had a rate of 90 percent or higher for Latino students: Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, Academy of Arts and Sciences, Lowell, and Lincoln
• Nine schools had double-digit increases in graduation rates for Latino students over the past 5 years: Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, International Studies Academy, Galileo, Burton, Balboa, Lincoln, Washington, Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Mission

How the rate is calculated

The 2014-15 cohort data released by CDE provides four-year graduation and dropout rates for all entering 9th graders in 2011 – 12 for all districts in California.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Summary of high school accomplishments

Academy of Arts and Science

• Schoolwide graduation rate increase of 8.7 percent from 2013-14 to 2014-15
• 97.4 percent graduation rate in 2014-15 for Latino students (38 of 39 students)

Balboa

• Double-digit schoolwide graduation rate increase of 13.3 percent over 5 years
• Even higher graduation rate increase over 5 years with their target groups: 20.7 percent for African-American students, 17.5 percent for Latino students and 26.7 percent for Filipino students

Lincoln

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 95.7 percent for African-American students in 2014-15 (22 of 23 students, 18 percent increase from 2013-14)
• Double-digit graduation rate increase over 5 years for African-American students (15.7 percent) and Latino students (25.1 percent)

Burton

• Schoolwide graduation rate increase of 7.9 percent in 2014-15 and 14.2 percent over the past 5 years
• 2014-15 graduation rates for targeted groups are significantly higher than the district:
  • African American: 14 of 18 students (77.8 percent)
  • Latino: 44 of 50 students (88 percent)
  • Filipino: 59 of 63 students (93.7 percent)
  • Over the past 5 years, all 3 groups have seen double-digit graduation rate increases

Washington

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 93.4 percent in 2014-15
• 100 percent graduation rate for African-American students in 2014-15
• Double-digit graduation rate increases over 5 years for African-American students (14 percent) and Latino students (11.2 percent)

Ruth Asawa School of the Arts

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 94.6 percent for 2014-15, which includes a graduation rate of 95 percent for Asian-American students (38 out of 40), 94.9 percent for white students (56 out of 59), and 100 percent for Latino students (19 out of 19)
• Schoolwide double-digit graduation rate increase of 13.8 percent over the past 5 years, which includes an increase of 11.7 percent for Asian-American students and 25.8 percent for Latino students

Lowell

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 97 percent for 2014-15
• African-American graduation rate of 100 percent (16 out of 16) for 2014-15

International Studies Academy

• Latino graduation rate of 78.6 percent (11 of 14 students) for 2014-15
• Double-digit increase of 13.1 percent in graduation rate for Latino students over 5 years

Galileo

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 87 percent for 2014-15

Double-digit increase of 25.3 percent for African-American students and 11.6 percent for Latino students over the past 5 years

Marshall

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 75.4 percent for 2014-15
• 54 percent of graduates completed the A-G requirements

Wallenberg

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 95.3 for 2014-15
• Double-digit schoolwide graduation rate increase of 11.7 percent over the past 5 years
• African-American graduation rate of 100 percent (17 out of 17) for 2014-15, which represents a significant increase of 31.2 percent over the past 5 years

June Jordan School for Equity

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 67.2 percent for 2014-15
• 67.8 percent of graduates completed the A-G requirements

Mission

• Schoolwide graduation rate of over 80 percent for 2014-15
• 5.1 percent increase in schoolwide graduation rate from 2013-14 to 2014-15, one of the highest year-over-year increases in SFUSD
• Double-digit schoolwide graduation rate increase of 12.8 percent over the past 5 years
• 72 percent of graduates completed the A-G requirements

John O’Connell

• Schoolwide graduation rate of 79.2 percent for 2014-15, which includes a graduation rate of 78.6 percent for African-American students (11 out of 14) and 83 percent for Latino students (44 out of 53 students)

Page updated on 05/17/16