FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006

For More Information Contact:

Jonathan Burman, Tom Dunn, Alan Ray

Internet: http://www.nysed.gov

GRADUATION AND REGENTS EXAM RESULTS RELEASED

FOR STUDENTS WHO BEGAN 9^TH GRADE IN 2000 AND 2001

Statewide high school graduation and Regents Exam results released today show that:

• 71 percent of the students who started 9^th grade in 2000 had graduated after 5 years, by June 30, 2005.

• 64 percent of the students who started 9^th grade in 2001 had graduated after 4 years.

• Fewer African-American and Hispanic students graduated than did white students, showing a major achievement gap persists.

• If students took the required Regents Exams, the vast majority passed at 55.

• However, many students began 9^th grade unprepared for high school work and failed their courses. Those students did not take the required Regents Exams.

• The vast majority of students who dropped out did not take Regents Exams. If they did, they usually passed.

• Slightly more general education students graduated last year, and slightly fewer special education students graduated.

• More high school graduates are reaching higher standards each year. More are earning Regents Diplomas.

“The Board of Regents is extremely concerned that the gap in graduation from high school is not closing,” Regents Chancellor Robert M. Bennett said. “This problem is something that should focus the attention of everyone in this State. We must and we will take additional decisive actions to solve it.”

“Sixty-four percent graduate in 4 years. That is a disturbing number. It is unacceptable,” State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said. “Confronting the facts will convince most people that the gap is not some distant condition affecting others, but something right in our town. Reforms so far have improved results in elementary and middle grades, promising higher achievement in high school in the future,” Commissioner Mills said. “But it is critical that we take action to change high school now.”

The overall picture shows that students who started 9^th grade in 2000 and 2001:

· Were in 4^th grade in 1995-96 and 1996-97, before the Board of Regents raised standards and required a more rigorous curriculum in school.

· Were in 8^th grade in spring 2000 and 2001, just after the new 4^th and 8^th grade tests – which measure higher standards – were first given. They showed low levels of achievement in 8^th grade.

· Therefore did not benefit from a curriculum based on high standards, and many therefore were unprepared for high school work.

For example, in both 2000 and 2001, 25 percent of these students statewide – and 44 percent in New York City – showed serious academic problems in 8^th grade Math, scoring in Level 1.

Later classes showed significant improvement on the 4^th grade and 8^th grade English and Math tests. For example, in New York City, the percentage scoring at Level 1 on the 8^th grade Math test was cut in half by 2005 – from 44 percent in 2001 to 20 percent in 2005. The percentage meeting all the standards almost doubled, from 22 percent in 2000 to 41 percent in 2005.

Fourth graders have also improved significantly over time. In 2000, only 42 percent of 4^th graders in New York City met all the standards in English. By 2005, 60 percent did. The percentage of New York City’s 4^th graders with serious academic problems declined from 19 percent in 2000 to 8 percent in 2005. Most high need school districts have made similar or, in some cases, more improvement.

The students included in the 2000 and 2001 cohorts are all students reported by school districts who started 9^th grade in 2000 and 2001 and had graduated, were still enrolled, had dropped out, or had transferred to a GED program as of June 30, 2005.

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