Good grad rate

According to Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) reports, more Orange County High School students are staying in school and earning their diplomas.
The reports, released last month, provide data which details the outcome of students who entered the ninth grade during the 2007-2008 school year and were expected to graduate within four years. These students are referred to as a cohort. Students who graduate early are still counted in the cohort as are students who graduate during the summer. Limited English proficient students and special education students who do not graduate are subtracted from the cohort and moved to the next year's. The reports give information on how many students graduated, what diplomas they earned and how many dropped out before completing their education.
In Orange County, the on-time graduation rate increased from 86.9 percent in 2010 to 90.2 percent in 2011. Of the county's 377 high school students in the 2011 cohort, 340 graduated on-time with VDOE approved diplomas. Of those, 179 earned an advanced studies diploma and 152 earned a standard diploma. Six students earned a modified diploma and three earned a special diploma-both are types only available to students with disabilities.
According to Orange County Public School Director of Testing, Data and School Improvement Jim Yurasits, the drop out rate is not the inverse of the graduation rate. So, with 340 out of 377 students graduating on-time, that doesn't necessarily mean the remaining 37 students dropped out. In fact, 10 received a GED, which is not an on-time graduation rate permitted diploma type according to the VDOE. Also, 21 students are returning or have illness. Those students are not counted as dropouts unless they permanently exit high school without a credential and without completing 12th grade.
According to Yurasits, only 1.6 percent or six of the 377 students in the 2011 cohort dropped out, significantly less than 2010's 6.4 percent or 27 students.
At the state level, 97,865 students made up the 2011 statewide cohort. Of those, 84,742 or 86.6 percent earned an approved diploma, which includes an advanced studies diploma, a standard diploma, a modified standard diploma and a special diploma. Of the 97,865 students in the 2011 statewide cohort, 7.2 percent dropped out.
Because of it's high on-time graduation rate and low dropout rate, Orange County High School's class of 2011 ranked among the state's best with the 34th best on-time graduation rate and the seventh best dropout rate out of the state's 131 school divisions.
"The effort to improve our graduation rate and lower our dropout rate is a true team effort," Orange County Public School Director of Student Services Eugene Kotulka said. "Parents, family members, friends, students, teachers, staff members [and] administrators all need to be congratulated for their hard work to make sure that all of our students graduate. Our goal is to have a 100 percent graduation rate. I am very proud of everyone for the hard work they have demonstrated to achieve this goal."
Orange County High School Principal Doug Duncan hopes the rates will even improve further next year.
"The improvements we have experienced in both raising our on-time graduation rate and reducing our dropout rate are the result of a true team effort," he said. "The students who made up the class of 2011 were themselves exceptional. The faculty and staff worked with each member of the graduating class and with their parents to review not just student progress towards graduation, but also to refine students' plans for life after graduation.
"While it might be unfair to assume that the class of 2012 would meet or exceed the standard that was established by the class of 2011, the faculty and staff are committed to helping them do just that," Duncan continued. "Counselors have already met with students to review their progress and have identified at-risk students in order to provide the support services they need to achieve on-time graduation."
Orange County Public School Director of Secondary Education Linda Carlton said a variety of interventions have been put in place to assist students.
"We have expanded our virtual platform to accelerate and recover students, looked at longitudinal data, began accelerating over-aged students, produced academic and career plans and created a robust alternative education program," she said. "We have shown the students we care and they have responded."
For more information on graduation and dropout rates, visit the Virginia Department of Education website at http://www.doe.virginia.gov.