The Washoe County School District (WCSD) Class of 2023 saw a District graduation rate of 81 percent, marking the seventh straight year of graduating cohorts achieving over 80 percent! Congratulations to our 4,080 students who earned their diploma this year!
One of the most important indicators of a quality K-12 educational system is the on-time graduation rate of all students. In order to achieve higher graduation rates and continue to give each of our students every opportunity for success, we must shine a light on our data, and both celebrate and confront the strengths and challenges the data presents. This allows us to support every student, every day, along their pathway to graduation.
Why is graduation so important to us? Graduation represents the culmination of our time with, and investment in, our students. This is important to their lives and to our community. The graduation milestone provides a launching pad for many opportunities, including college, other postsecondary education, highly skilled careers, and military service. The economic and societal benefits of graduation have been shown by many economists (Alliance for Excellent Education; Bureau of Labor Statistics; The New York Times), who estimate that the net benefit to taxpayers ranges from $77K to $127K per graduate. In addition, high school graduates earn at least 50% more than high school dropouts in lifetime income, and unemployment rates are double for high school dropouts vs graduates.
In 2023, Washoe County School District (WCSD) achieved a graduation rate of 81 percent of students graduating on-time with their four-year cohort, representing an increase of 11 percentage points since 2013. The Class of 2023 was the seventh class to eclipse the 80% mark since the 4-Year Cohort Graduation Rate has been reported. This is truly a new era for WCSD!
The line graph presented here displays the four-year cohort graduation rate in WCSD and in the state of Nevada from 2010 through 2023. The figure shows an improvement in WCSD from 62% in 2010 to 81% in 2023. This shows that the hard work of our students, parents, and educators is paying off more and more each year, as students cross the graduation stage on their way to new opportunities.
Both systems have progressed substantially over time, but still have much room to improve in order to fulfill the promise of a New Nevada to meet the economic and workforce needs of this century.
In order to fulfill Our WCSD Promise, that we will know every student by NAME, STRENGTH, and NEED so they graduate prepared for the future they choose and we will deliver on this promise in partnership with our FAMILIES and COMMUNITY, we must ensure that each child, no matter his or her background, is supported along their pathway. This means eliminating achievement gaps.
The chart above displays graduation rates for each of our racial and ethnic populations. Since 2018, the achievement gap has narrowed among most populations. Though, as seen in 2023, gaps still remain, and our mission is to continue to improve and personalize supports for ALL students in our system.
The chart above displays graduation rates for each special program student population. While each population has seen impressive progress since 2010, in recent years, special population graduation rates have been relatively stagnant (or decreasing) and we have a significant amount of work to do in order to ensure each student, regardless of background, is given the opportunity and necessary support to reach the graduation stage. Recent success in improving graduation rates among all students, regardless of the challenges they face, provides evidence that targeted supports, including wraparound services, school counseling, intersession programs, Saturday school, family engagement, home visits, tutoring, and social-emotional learning result in more students walking across the graduation stage.
WCSD offers a standard high school diploma as well as advanced, college & career ready (CCR), and honors options. It rests with the student, parents and educators to determine which diploma program is best suited for each student.
As the nation and WCSD confront low levels of college readiness among graduates (remediation rate report), it is important that rigor is not sacrificed in striving for more graduates. This is why advanced, CCR and honors diplomas are important metrics used to determine our success and guide our system of supports. The chart above displays the proportion of advanced/CCR/honors diplomas awarded each year, compared to the proportion of standard diplomas.
There are challenges for WCSD in this area, however, as achievement gaps are revealed when student populations are disaggregated. As we progress towards higher graduation rates, we must also continue to make progress in advanced/honors diplomas, and the opportunities they afford, for ALL students.
Examining graduation data cannot stop at the system, or district-level. The overall graduation rate is comprised of the success of each of our schools, where our students progress each day along their educational journey. The chart above displays the graduation rate for each WCSD high school.
Just as our district rate is comprised of each high school’s success, each high school’s rate is comprised of each student population and, ultimately, each child. Clicking on any school, or its respective column, on the chart above will transition into a display of graduation rates by student population at that school. Exploring the data in this way allows you to examine achievement gap successes and challenges at each school. Examining variability in systems facilitates disciplined discussions and sharing of effective practices. This allows each school to best meet challenges in their own context, and affords the district to provide evidence-based supports.
Although we have provided an overview of the data presented here, we hope you will take time to interact with it, and examine it yourself. The site is presented so our community can see our successes and challenges in terms of student achievement related to graduation metrics. Moreover, it is meant to include our community in the conversation regarding our progress. Exploring the data will reveal many strong points, as well as some glaring areas for improvement.