Graduation rate changes could hurt Indiana school grades

New federal rules will change the way Indiana calculates graduation rates for the state's high schools.

The change will mean thousands of diplomas will no longer count toward federal graduation rate reports.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, a replacement for the controversial No Child Left Behind Act of a previous era, was considered a major bipartisan achievement when it passed in 2015. ESSA, as the new federal law is known, sets rules for how states hold their schools accountable and measure their progress. 

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One of those rules requires states to report graduation rates uniformly nationwide.  

That means that one of the three diplomas offered by the state, the General Diploma, will not be counted in federal reporting.

More than 8,600 students earned the General Diploma in 2016.

The change could have a big impact on both the state's graduation rate and individual high schools. If this change had taken effect for the 2016 school year, the state's graduation rate as federally reported would have been 78 percent, rather than the 89 percent that was reported.

ESSA also requires that the federal reporting standard is what the state uses in states' accountability models, meaning the lower graduation rate will be used when determining high schools' state letter grades. Graduation rates account for a significant portion of a high school's grade. 

"Indiana has traditionally used its state rate for accountability purposes," said Adam Baker, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Education. "Therefore, we will see a drop in scores for the graduation rate indicator when we shift from the state rate to the federal rate."

Poor grades can lead to state intervention at traditional public schools, non-renewal for charter schools or caps on choice scholarships at private schools participating in the voucher program. 

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In a statement released Friday morning, IDOE said it is seeking clarification as to which graduating class will be the first affected. Depending on the response from the U.S. Education Department, schools could see the impact of this change as soon as the 2017-18 accountability grades are issued in the fall of 2018, which reflects the graduation rate from the 2016-17 school year. 

IDOE said the General Diploma will continue to be an option for students.

The other two diplomas offered by Indiana high schools are the Core 40 and the Honors Diploma, a designation that includes academic honors, technical honors and International Baccalaureate diplomas. 

The Indiana General Assembly made completion of the Core 40 curriculum a graduation requirement for all students in 2007. The legislation included an opt-out provision, though, for parents who determine their students could receive a greater benefit from the General Diploma and for students who have not passed at least three Core 40 courses or who score in the 25th percentile or lower on the graduation exam. 

In 2016, most of the more than 450 high schools reporting diploma information to the state awarded at least one General Diploma. Many awarded dozens and more than half awarded General Diplomas to at least 10 percent of their graduating class. 

While the General Diploma is good enough to graduate high school, it won't get you into college. The same legislation that set Core 40 as the graduation standard also made it a minimum requirement for acceptance into Indiana's public colleges and universities. 

Call IndyStar reporter Arika Herron at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.