Denver’s graduation rate slipped under 50 percent, while at the same time the dropout rate also fell, according to a report given to board members Thursday night.
Ana Tilton, chief academic officer, said a change in the way the state requires districts to count graduates resulted in the lower graduate rate of 49.5 percent for 2008, the latest figures available.
The percentage reflects the number of kids who started as ninth-graders and finished four years later. The state requires kids who have transferred to be verified by documentation from other districts.
“The good news is we are graduating more students,” Tilton said.
In 2006, the graduation rate was 51.7 percent. In 2007, the rate was 52 percent. The district also had 215 more graduates in 2008 than in 2006.
In 2008, the dropout rate was 7.5 percent — an improvement from 11.1 percent three years before — a 1,426 student decrease over three years.
