District’s graduation and dropout rates reach best levels under the modern accountability system

HISD’s streak of declining dropout rates and increasing graduation rates hit four years for the class of 2011, according to preliminary Class of 2011 figures released by the Texas Education Agency.

HISD’s latest dropout rate of 11.8 percent and four-year graduation rate of 78.5 percent are the best they have been under the accountability system Texas put into place in 2007. And while the district’s overall enrollment has remained steady during that time period, the number of annual graduates has risen strongly from 6,978 graduates in the Class of 2007, to 9,070 graduates in the Class of 2011 – a 30-percent increase of 2,092 diplomas in just four years.

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“Houston students are proving they are willing – and more than able – to achieve academically when we show faith in them and put them in a position to succeed,” said Trustee Michael Lunceford, president of the HISD Board of Education.  “We all know the dropout rate remains a critical problem in our city, but we are making strong progress. The students, with help from the school administrators and teachers, have made a concerted effort to stem the tide of dropouts”
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