Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee Home

June 11, 2008

Zollie Stevenson, Jr
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW Room #W230
Washington, DC 20202-6132

Dear Mr. Stevenson:

The nation’s governors submit the following comments in response to the April 23rd Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the regulations governing Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). 

While the proposed regulations cover numerous NCLB topics important to governors, NGA’s comments focus on the proposed regulations relative to a common high school graduation rate and the use of that rate for accountability purposes.  NGA also encourages the Department to consider individual state comments.

In 2005, NGA convened a Task Force on State High School Graduation Data to make recommendations about how states could develop a high-quality, comparable high school graduation measure, as well as complementary indicators of student progress and outcomes, and data systems capable of collecting, analyzing, and reporting the data states need.  The Task Force proposed several recommendations to states including a new common, voluntary formula to calculate high school graduation rates, commonly referred to as the “NGA Graduation Rate.”  The NGA Graduation Counts: Compact on State High School Graduation Data (NGA Compact), which includes the NGA Graduation Rate, was endorsed by 50 governors and led to states beginning the difficult task of developing and building longitudinal data systems to calculate the new graduation rate.  States remain committed to implementing longitudinal data systems, but some states face budget and policy hurdles to achieve this goal.  As a result, by 2012-2013, with a few exceptions, almost all states will be able to calculate and report the NGA Graduation Rate.

NGA greatly appreciates that the proposed regulations acknowledge the leadership and contribution of governors to develop a more accurate and comparable voluntary state high school graduation rate definition.  The use of a more accurate, comparable high school graduation rate definition is critical to provide decision makers with information about student outcomes to better target solutions and resources.

With this goal in mind, NGA offers the following observations and recommendations to help enhance and refine the proposed regulations.

Interim Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR)
NGA is concerned that the proposed regulations would require states to calculate an interim high school graduation rate, specifically the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR). The Department may give states the option to adopt an interim graduation rate – several are suggested by NGA – but the Department should not require an interim rate. Based on NGA’s experience with states implementing the NGA Compact, an interim high school graduation rate can be counterproductive to the goal of adopting the NGA Graduation Rate in a timely, cost effective manner and may be confusing to the public.

Specifically, the NGA Compact allowed states to report five or six year cohort graduation rate indicators, in addition to the four-year rate, to provide richer information and understanding about outcomes for students and how well the schools serve students. The NGA Compact also allowed states to assign special education students and recent immigrants with limited English proficiency to different cohorts to allow students more time to graduate, if educationally appropriate. 

Use of Common Graduation Rate for Accountability Purposes
The voluntary state NGA Compact formulated a common high school graduation rate to ensure transparency, accountability, comparability, and, ultimately, to improve our nation’s high schools. When governors developed the NGA Compact, it was not for federal accountability purposes. As a result, the NGA Compact did not establish a high school graduation rate goal or rate of growth. 

Federalizing the NGA Compact and attaching high-stake accountability measures raises several state and local implementation challenges that require further clarity and discussion. For example, governors seek further clarity with regard to how states and schools receive appropriate credit for students who graduate from high school in five or more years, rather than dropping out, or graduate with a modified diploma. These issues are especially important for students with disabilities or limited English-Proficiency, students participating in dual enrollment or early college high school programs, and early graduates from or late transfers to high school.

Consideration also should be given to the treatment of students whose graduation is delayed due to issues beyond a state’s or school’s control, including medical needs, natural disasters, or incarceration. Additionally, the improvement targets for high schools serving students at-risk of dropping out, or students that dropped out and returned to school, require careful and judicious consideration in the context of accountability. The improvement targets for these high schools need to be considered to ensure schools are not penalized for helping struggling students successfully complete high school. Furthermore, states and schools need adequate time to implement any new requirements, especially in light of the goal for states to fully implement the NGA Graduation Rate.

In short, the use of a high school graduation rate in any accountability framework must serve as an incentive to promote state and local innovation to better engage and educate every student, and count all students who graduate from high school.

On behalf of governors, NGA stands ready to work with the Department to make these necessary refinements to the proposed regulations.

Sincerely,

Attachments:   
Graduation Counts: A Compact on State High School Graduation Data
Graduation Counts: Compact and Task Force Report