MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ GRADUATION RATE
HITS ALL-TIME HIGH

Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ (M-DCPS) graduation rate has reached an all-time high of 77.7 percent for the 2010-2011 academic year.  This is a 5.6 percent increase from last year’s rate of 72.1 AND the highest graduation rate M-DCPS has achieved since the Florida Department of Education began tracking graduation statistics with modern methods in the late 1990’s.  Miami-Dade improved at a significantly higher rate than the state’s improvement rate.  In fact, while the state increased its graduation rates by only one percent, Miami-Dade’s rate dramatically increased by nearly six percent.

“This trend of strong improvement is very encouraging and demonstrates that our plan to increase student achievement is working,” said Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho.  “We have brought together the best teachers and school administrators in this effort to help students graduate and prepare them for college and careers.  These results come on the heels of solid reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.  Parents, teachers and school leaders can all take pride in these accomplishments,” added Carvalho.

Florida Commissioner of Education Gerard Robinson recently noted Miami-Dade’s progress, saying, “Miami-Dade students scored higher than the average of students in large cities (populations over 250,000) both in terms of scale scores and percentage scoring above basic in reading for grades 4 and 8, and in grade 4 mathematics.“

The improvement in the district’s graduation rate was made possible by a detailed plan to address new high school accountability standards.  Online credit recovery courses were made available to students to help ensure they could make up needed coursework.  

Additional periods in the school day provided students with course acceleration and credit recovery opportunities.   High school counselors were given professional development in how to help students recover needed credits.  Also, to provide those students with a smoother transition to high school academics, the District began focusing early attention on the importance of graduation, starting with middle school.  Additionally, a comprehensive summer school program offered students opportunities to make up coursework.

###

11-JJS/241

Back to News Releases