Graduation Rate Up, Drop Out Rate Down for Pasadena School District

Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) students graduated at a higher rate than ever before, according to graduation and dropout data released by the California Department of Education.

The data says 82.3 percent of the class of 2013 in the district received their diploma, an increase of 3.4 percent from the previous year and a jump of 7.1 percent since the department began tracking cohort graduation and dropout data in 2009-2010. In comparison, the percentage of statewide average graduation rate in 2013 was 80.2 percent.

The district’s Hispanic and White students had the same graduation rate of 81 percent, but the graduation rate for African-American students rose to 83.7 percent, a 12 percent increase from 2009-2010.

“I think it’s the work that’s being done in the school sites every day,” said Adam Wolfson, director of Communications and Community Engagement for PUSD. “It’s us focusing a number of things, the African-American male’s success initiative, for example, to address the unique needs of African-American males so they don’t fall behind and address historical lower scores among that population.”

The district saw the fewest number of students dropping out of high school since 2009-2010, according to the data. The percentage of dropouts district-wide fell 3.9 percent to 9.3 percent, while statewide, 11.6 percent of students who started high school in 2009-10 dropped out.

The overall reduction in PUSD’s dropout rate from 2009-2010 to 2012-2013 was 6.3 percent. There has been a substantial decrease in the number of dropouts among every subgroup over the last three years, with 5.6 percent fewer Hispanic students, 10.1 percent fewer African-American students and 2.6 percent fewer white students dropping out of high school, the data shows.

“I am proud of our students for persevering and graduating high school at a higher rate than ever before,” said PUSD Superintendent Jon R. Gundry. “It is an important milestone that there is no discernible difference in the graduation and dropout rates among our largest subgroups. While we still must continue to encourage all of our students to stay in school and get their diploma, it is heartening to see that we are on the right track.”

PUSD’s complete graduation and dropout data for the 2012-2013 school year can be found at htttp://dq.cde.ca.gov.