A Look at the Data Behind Lynn Fecteau-Leary's 19.4% Graduation Rate

In an article in this week's Daily Item regarding graduation rates in Lynn, reporter Gayla Crawley noted:

"Four years ago, then-Superintendent Dr. Catherine C. Latham addressed the district’s significant influx of English Language Learners (ELLs), one of its two lowest performing subgroups, by placing a large number of those students at Fecteau-Leary for space concerns.

Some of those students would have attended Classical otherwise, and a majority of those ELLs have dropped out since that time. While most other aspects of Fecteau-Leary’s graduation data remained steady last year, [Lynn School Superintendent Patrick] Tutwiler said their ELL graduation rate was zero, which “brought their data way down.”

Looking at the data, the number of English Learner (EL) students at Fecteau-Leary increased during the 2015-16 school year considerably and even further the next year. Since 2017, however, the number of EL students enrolled has decreased to enrollment numbers similar to 2014. 

Graduation rates are calculated in terms of the percentage of students who entered 9th grade for the first time in the same year who are then expected to graduate four years later. The graduating cohort is, therefore, that group of 9th graders being monitored over time. 

Over the last decade, the number of EL students in the graduating cohort has remained between 0 and 2 until the 2019 graduating cohort. Last year, there were 11 students who began high school in 2015 and were expected to graduate in 2019 at Fecteau-Leary. In 2019, the graduation rate for EL students at Fecteau-Leary was 0%; 81.8% of these students dropped out between 2015 and 2019. To clear up any misconceptions, however, the graduation rate for Hispanic/Latino students, separate from the EL rate, was 19%. 

Overall, Fecteau-Leary's 4-year graduation rate for all students was 19.4% last year compared to 34.1% the previous year. In reference to Tutwiler's comment about this bringing the data way down, if all of the EL students in last year's cohort graduated, Fecteau-Leary's graduation rate would have been closer to 50% overall. 

The school's EL population, which was 56.2% in 2016-17, is just 8.6% in 2019-20. It will be interesting to see how this change in student demographics will ultimately affect Fecteau-Leary's graduation rate in a few years. 

Source: www.doe.mass.edu

2019 Graduation Rates

The state recently reported 4-year graduation rates for the cohort of Massachusetts students expected to graduate in 2019. Statewide, the 4-year graduation rate was 88%, up from 87.9% the previous year. Graduation rates, as always did vary from district to district with eight districts reporting a 100% graduation rate and another (single school district) reporting a graduation rate of just 5.4%. 

Looking at the ten Commissioner's Districts, New Bedford made the greatest gain from 2018 reporting a 71.9% graduation rate compared to 58.6% the previous year. Springfield also saw a slight increase, up 3.1 points from 2018. 

The state also reported that 73.9% of students with disabilities graduated in 2019. In many of the Commissioner's districts, the graduation rate for that particular population was under 60%. 

Similarly, 78.5% of low income students statewide graduated in 4 years with rates in the above mentioned districts ranging from 68.6% (Fall River) to 80% (Worcester). 

In Lynn, the graduation rate district wide was up slightly from 2018 (+0.5) with both Lynn Classical and Lynn Tech reporting more substantial increases from 2018.

Source: www.doe.mass.edu

Lynn's 2018 4-Year Graduation Rate Up Slightly from 2017

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released the 2018 four year graduation rates for the state's schools. Overall, the 4-year graduation rate statewide among those expected to graduate in 2018 was 87.9%, down from 88.3% in 2017. In Lynn, 74.3% of a cohort of 1,237 graduated in 2018.

Graduation rates in Lynn among the subgroups varied as typically reported. Among English Learners, the graduation rate was 49% while 63.9% of Students with Disabilities graduated within four years; the graduation rate for female students was 80.5% compared to 69.4% among male students.

At the individual high school level, graduation rates overall also varied:

Citywide, graduation rates are up slightly from last year:

Looking elsewhere, the majority of the state's Commissioner's Districts had graduation rate percentages in the 70-range with New Bedford lower at 58.6% and Worcester the highest at 83.5%.

Source: www.doe.mass.edu