The Dallas ISD Class of 2010 set a graduation rate record going back over 20 years. The 6,984 diplomas given out in 2010 represent 49.6% of the full 9th grade class enrollment from four years earlier, when that enrollment was 14,079. This measurement of graduation rate has not been higher than 49.6% in over 20 years. (The measurements used in this calculation are not to be confused with the TEA graduation rate calculations, the AYP calculations, nor the Cumulative Promotion Index measurement for graduation rates.)
However, when you remove the tremendous progress made by Sunset High School in Oak Cliff, this wonderful 20+ year record almost disappears to only a 6 year record. The 49.6% DISD graduation rate goes down to 48.9%.
Sunset High School has made over a 150% increase in their graduation rate since the Class of 2000! The large majority of this progress was achieved since the Class of 2006, as shown in the graph below. This report is a comparison of Sunset progress with the progress within all of the rest of Dallas ISD, without Sunset. Just click on the image to see a larger copy.
It appears that almost all the progress within Dallas ISD is happening within Sunset based on this chart. While it is certain this is not true due to the wonderful
progress eliminating the 9th grade bulge throughout DISD, it is certain that Sunset is a leader among the 40+ high schools in DISD. Below is an enrollment by grade chart for Sunset going back to 1997 which clearly shows the 9th grade bulge has virtually disappeard this year at Sunset. When both Sunset and Greiner Middle School, the other middle school feeding into Sunset, started their own School Archive Projects the summer of 2009, that meant that all students at Sunset were getting that forward looking and planning experience twice at a minimum.
Hopefully this progress within Sunset is being studied by Dallas ISD, and the results of those studies will be shared with the public. The reasons for this tremendous progress need to be known. This dramatic progress must be repeated in all DISD non-magnet high schools.
Most of the data from which this chart was made is available at
http://www.studentmotivation.org/DallasISD.htm, and on the "DISD Stats by School" pages linked from that page. Questions about this data are welcome. Copies of more recent spreadsheets, used in these calculations but not yet online, will gladly be shared. Just email
bbetzen@aol.com.
