The region’s high school education rate remains higher than most; enrollment declines continue
High school graduation rates have generally improved across southwestern Pennsylvania, although in a few school districts a third or more of the students failed to graduate on time. More important is whether they and others like them end up earning a diploma or equivalent degree sometime in their lives. And on that point, the region continues to stand out.
Graduation rates improved or stayed the same in about 70 percent of the school districts located in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical area last year, which marked the first time year-to-year comparisons could be made with Pennsylvania’s new graduation tracking method.
The methodology adopted in 2010 calculates the rate of students who graduate three years after their ninth grade year. But, unlike the previous method, it tracks the status of students and accounts for those who transfer in and out of schools and districts. The state released the first rates derived from that methodology in 2011.
Graduation rates in the region ranged from a low of 53 percent in the Wilkinsburg School District to 100 percent in the tiny Cornell School District in suburban Allegheny County. At least 85 percent of seniors graduated on time in 78 of 102 districts, which is 15 percent more than in the previous year. The number of districts graduating at least 90 percent of their seniors rose from 50 to 55.
Wilkinsburg, Uniontown and McKeesport were the only three districts in the region where a third or more seniors failed to graduate in 2011-2012. The previous year, five districts reported graduation rates of 66 percent or lower.
Dropping out of school or otherwise failing to earn a diploma puts students at much greater risk of being unemployed, relying on government assistance or cycling in and out of the prison system, studies suggest.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, for example, those lacking a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) credential accounted for 16 percent of the unemployed in the first half of 2012 – the highest jobless rate among all education levels, according to a University of Pittsburgh University Center for Social and Urban Research analysis.
The new state graduation rates don’t accurately reflect that population, measuring only the rate of students who graduate on time. In other words, not all students counted as failing to graduate are dropouts. Some may be held back a year and graduate with a later class. And even those who drop out may end up earning a GED at some point in their lives.
The Pittsburgh MSA, in fact, has the second highest rate of residents with at least a high school education among the 15 Pittsburgh Today benchmark regions. Nearly 92 percent of residents 25 years old or older have at least a high school diploma or GED. And an analysis by the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance finds that the rate rises to 93.5 percent among residents aged 18 to 44, which is the highest among the benchmark regions.
“We have many ways for people to become educated in this country, which is a strength of our system,” said Jerry Longo, Ph.D., visiting associate professor of education at the University of Pittsburgh and co-director of the Educational Leadership Initiative. “It’s not a surprise that our demographics reflect that people are making those choices because we are a region rich in educational opportunities.”
Enrollment slips
Both public and private school enrollment in southwestern Pennsylvania were lower last year than in 2010-2011, which is in line with statewide trends. Overall public school enrollment in the region, for example, dropped 0.9 percent, the same rate of decline seen across the state. Both trends reflect the fact that there are fewer school-age children in the region, state and nation.
Public school enrollment decreased in all Pittsburgh MSA counties last year except in Beaver, where it rose slightly due largely to the inclusion of the PA Cyber Charter School. This is not a recent trend. Public school enrollment in the region has fallen 8.8 percent since 2001.
The steepest 10-year decline has been in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, where enrollment is down 29 percent. Such a loss was not entirely unexpected given that residents have steadily been migrating from the region’s urban core to the suburbs for decades.
Several steps were taken in the city public schools in recent years that were intended, in part, to help staunch the decline in enrollment. They included district-wide reforms to improve the quality of instruction and the Pittsburgh Promise, a privately funded scholarship program offering students who meet grade and attendance requirements up to $40,000 to help pay for a post-secondary education. Enrollment has continued to fall over the past five years, but at a much slower rate of 3.7 percent.
Outcomes matter
Public school teachers throughout southwestern Pennsylvania and across the state will be evaluated differently this year with the adoption of new statewide standards that for the first time consider the academic outcomes of their students. And they will not only be judged on how well they do in their own classrooms, but on how students in their building do as a whole.
Previously, evaluations were largely based on classroom observations typically done by principals. Half of the new evaluation is based on student performance measures, including standardized test scores, attendance, promotion and progress on Individualized Education Plans.
Among the controversial aspects of the new system is that the economic diversity of students in a building or classroom is not considered. Studies suggest that certain groups of students, particularly those from low-income families, tend to perform more poorly in school for a number of reasons and can be more challenging to teach.
“Everyone is held to the same standard,” said Longo. “But no one is dealing with central issues, such as poverty, as if that doesn’t matter or you can overcome that. There are certainly cases in which that has been true. But on a broad scale it isn’t.”
Reducing teaching staffs is an issue more and more school districts are struggling with as they look for ways to make ends meet with fewer state subsidy dollars and other revenues. Whether the new statewide teacher evaluations will play a role in furloughing decisions is unclear.
School districts have long based layoffs on teacher certification area and seniority. And there is little evidence of that changing. Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Public Schools and its teachers union agreed on a rigorous new evaluation system that more thoroughly assesses teacher skills and student learning. But when faced with cutting some 300 teachers last year, they couldn’t agree on a way to use the evaluations in deciding whom to let go, and seniority ruled again.