Graduation rates for public schools can be informative — and misleading. While helping students to navigate basic education and earn a diploma is important, so are establishing rigid academic standards and ensuring that students learn rather than simply pass classes.
That dichotomy is at the root of several discussions surrounding schools in Washington.
Statewide, graduation rates at public high schools reached a record high of 83.6 percent for the Class of 2023. As State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said: “Over the past five years, our Legislature has invested in more school counselors, expanded pathways to graduation aligned with student interests, and increased student access to rigorous coursework.”
But that investment comes with a cost. During the 2022-23 school year, 39 percent of Washington students met or exceeded benchmarks in math, according to results from standardized tests. Approximately 43 percent met science standards, and 51 percent reached grade-level standards in language arts.
Those numbers represented a slight improvement from the previous year, but they still were short of pre-pandemic levels. Similar results have been seen in other states as the education system reacts to the impact of COVID-19.
It might seem incongruous that academic achievement in Washington has declined since the arrival of COVID while graduation rates have increased. But it makes sense when you consider that the standards for attaining a diploma have been altered.
As the pandemic led to the closing of schools and upended education, state officials recommended that schools not fail students as long as classes were being held remotely. The results, predictably, were higher grades that did not necessarily reflect improved learning.
A study released last month from the University of Washington’s Center for Education Data and Research found that grades, on average, improved for middle and high school students in math, English and science during the pandemic. It also found that grades have remained high even though schools have returned to normal.
“If grades no longer mean what they meant before the pandemic, I think we need to know that so we can sort of adjust how we target interventions,” Maia Goodman Young, a co-author of the study, told KUOW in Seattle. “If you make it easier to get a C, and all a student wants to do is get a C, they can do less work.”
In other words, boosted grades and pumped-up graduation rates should not be conflated with improved achievement.
Increasing graduation rates is a laudable goal. High school graduates, on average, earn significantly more money than nongraduates throughout their working life and are less likely to require public assistance. But those benefits are realized only if accompanied by stringent achievement benchmarks.
As the centrist Brookings Institution wrote in 2020 about surging graduation: “The main concern is that schools may have made it easier to complete high school through lax course grading, GEDs, and ‘credit-recovery programs’ that allow students to pass without learning much.”
That should be kept in mind as the State Board of Education considers extending a waiver for some high school graduation requirements; instead, policymakers should strengthen graduation requirements. Focusing on achievement and a demanding curriculum will serve students and our communities better than artificially increased graduation rates.
