FYI from BSF, 03.17.23
High school graduation rates for the Class of 2022 for Boston and all of Massachusetts have been quietly, officially released.
Why the lack of pomp and circumstance (see: 2020 and 2022)? Unclear, but perhaps due to questions around the accuracy of this data continuing up and through the recent Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting.
A look back through the data, accounting for subgroups, yields ~42,000 data points. We may have a few more points to explore, but to start, here’s what we (not GPT-4) saw.
Boston and Massachusetts 4-year high school graduation rates have climbed over time.
Boston appears to be closing the gap with the state.
Note, however, the recent increase coincided with the pause of the 10th grade MCAS graduation requirement.
Also, rates only tell part of the story. BPS experienced enrollment decline over the past decade. The result? There was a significant increase in the graduation rate (+15.1%), but there were 46 less high school graduates last spring than there were in 2013.
There are wide gaps by school type in Boston.
*For purpose of this analysis, one Horace Mann and pilot school were grouped as "Alternative."
With the inclusion of non-BPS schools (Horace Mann and Commonwealth Charters), the city-wide average only nudges up slightly to 81.8%.
Then why do the majority of school types post a higher average?
Traditional, open enrollment schools - high schools that do not require a separate application or feature some school-site autonomy - served more than ⅓ of the graduating class, while posting lower graduation rates.
There are wide gaps amongst Boston students.
There are wide gaps between Boston students and their Massachusetts peers.
With the exception of English Learners, Boston children of every race and subgroup lag behind their Massachusetts peers. Again, students with disabilities stand out.
The Class of 2022 may prove to be quite unique. As sophomores in the spring of 2020, not only were they not required to take the 10th grade MCAS to graduate from high school, they were never required to take the 10th grade MCAS at all. Time - and the state’s longitudinal data system - will tell how important this was in contributing to the highest high school graduation rates to date, or the impact on educational and life outcomes.
This will not be the case with this spring’s Class of 2023. The 10th Grade MCAS requirement is back in, and the scaled score requirement suggests many students in Boston did not qualify when they took the test in the spring of 2021, while participation rates were also quite low. Starting in 2026, the scaled score requirement will be higher.
There is a big focus on high schools right now. State-funded early college programs in high schools. Expansion of Boston-based programs. MassCoreimplementation. This is a continuation of decades of consensus, holding that high school graduation rates were important and federal and state policies should support their improvement.
But, with persistent gaps and the repercussions of the pandemic, rather than celebrating higher graduation rates now, we should be preparing for the challenges to come.
Notes in the Margin
Boston School Committee met this week. Full materials here.
Each of the reports found their way into the news. Superintendent Skipper announced a new organizational structure. The district is moving on a new bus contract with additional accountability tools. A new building is being proposed for the Shaw-Taylor merger. This would make good on a promise for a new building in south Dorchester/Mattapan, but it faces some hurdles. Massachusetts School Building Authority funding is competitive and limited (last year’s BPS submissions for the Otis and the Blackstone were denied) and BPS Dorchester and Mattapan elementary school enrollment patterns (see below, care of BSF tableau) don't necessarily call out for more buildings.
BPS is keeping teachers in the classroom by keeping them in the country.
Different Massachusetts communities are approaching fiscal risks for schools in different ways. Amherst is moving forward with cuts. Hingham is gearing up for an override. Newton ended up somewhere in the middle.
Active week at the state level. At the first hearing on the proposed education budget, testimony touched on learning loss and funding threats for early child care. Katherine Craven will remain chair of BESE. Berkshire children joined Boston City Councilors in requesting student voting rights on school committees.
For all the talk of its effectiveness, there is little tutoring being deployed to address student learning needs.
Teacher pension costs now account for more than a nickel of each dollar of education spending.
Massachusetts education policy debates aren’t so exceptional after all: Houston public schools are now under state receivership and Los Angeles is potentially on a path to strikes.
Other Matters
Perhaps against the wishes of the departed Mayor James Michael Curley, Boston children and educators will report to school this morning. With the memory of 2015’s 110.3 inches of snow (and the scramble to make up days) still fresh, the last Evacuation Day school holiday was seven years ago today.