Yuma Unified High School District One of Four Arizona Graduation Rate "Overachievers" Identified in Education Week Article
Flagstaff, Mesa and Tucson School Districts Also Make the List

PHOENIX – July 15, 2009 –The national accolades keep rolling in for Arizona’s public schools.

Earlier this month, 14 Arizona schools appeared in a Newsweek list rating the top 1,500 US high schools.  Now, Education Week has given the Grand Canyon State high ratings – four different Arizona school districts have been identified as "overachievers" in a national report on graduation rates appearing in the June 2009 issue of the publication.

The article, "Gauging Graduation, Pinpointing Progress" focused on trends in graduation rates over a decade. To compile the list of graduation rate "overachievers", researchers from the Editorial Projects In Education Research Center calculated graduation rates for the nation, states and every school district in the country.  The analysis examined factors associated with changes in the graduation rates from 1996 to 2006, and identified districts featuring more at-risk characteristics achieving a higher than "expected rate" of graduation. 

The Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) topped Arizona districts on the list, finishing 16th out of 33 districts across the country that beat their expected graduation rate by 10 or more percentage points.   YUHSD had a +13 Expectation Index, with a 72-percent actual four-year graduation rate. 

The three Arizona school districts joining YUHSD on the list included the Flagstaff Unified School District, featuring a +12 Expectation Index and a 75-percent actual four-year graduation rate; the Mesa Unified School District with a +10 Expectation Index and 67-percent graduation rate; and the Tucson Unified School District, finishing with a +10 Expectation Index and a 67-percent actual graduation rate.

The Editorial Projects in Education Research Center conducted the analysis of high school completion nationwide comparing the trends from the baseline year of 1996 to 2006 and the years in between.  The EPE Research Center analysis identified a pool of school districts matching the nation's largest urban systems and then singled out those districts demonstrating the highest graduation rates and strongest growth, relative to expectations and district characteristics. 

The article and research report can be found online by clicking here.