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New Harmony reports 100 percent graduation rate
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By Kathryn Knight (14 WFIE, The Tri-State's News Leader)
About 76.5 percent of eligible Indiana students earned a high school
diploma in 2006 according to new graduation rates released Tuesday.
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed released
the official high school graduation rates at a press conference in
which she called for a statewide effort to increase the number of
students earning diplomas. Fifteen public high schools in the state
have graduation rates less than 50 percent, and the lowest graduation
rates occurred in schools with a disproportionate number of low-
income families and those with limited English proficiency. Of the 15
schools with graduation rates less than 50 percent, at least 11 have a
majority of students who quality for free and reduced-price lunch
programs.
Of the percentage that did not graduate, 11.2 percent were
considered dropouts, meaning that the students did not formally
withdraw from the school. Also, included in the 23.5 percent were
those that fell under the category of "non-graduates" which means
they received a General Equivalency Diploma (GED), a non-diploma
course completion certificate, or were still attending school.
Of the 11 local public and private high schools, nine exceeded the
statewide average of official high school graduation rates. New
Harmony (Ind.) High School was one of two schools within the state
that had a 100 percent graduation rate.
Principal Douglas Mills of New Harmony School admits that the smaller
class size of 13 graduating seniors in 2006 contributes to the school's
successful graduation rate, but he contends the success is also due
to the "caring staff and environment" that work within the small school.
"New Harmony School is very unique with a very unique situation.
There is a home feeling here. Most of the staff grew up in New
Harmony and went to New Harmony School, so they're considerably
invested," explains Mills.
The school focuses most of their attention on ensuring that "no child is
left behind" in the educational process. "The staff makes sure that
every student graduates and is motivated to graduate and that they
are on the right track to pursuing their dreams after graduation,"
states Mills. He adds that there are schools similar to New Harmony
School in that they have smaller class sizes; however, a great deal of
these smaller schools have a graduation rate somewhere between 50-
60 percent.
Reed announced plans to improve statewide graduation rates is the
analysis of high-performing schools like New Harmony School as well
as observation of those schools that fall below expectations. Also,
included in the plan are the following:
- · Dropout Prevention Legislation: Recent legislation raised
the age of official dropout to 18; proactive measures to retain
those students who show signs of withdrawal; provide more
options for receiving diplomas.
- · High School Dropout Prevention Taskforce: Analyze high-
and low-performing school as well as a review of school policies
and resources.
- · Dropout Recovery Project: Link dropouts with adult
education opportunities, such as Ivy Tech Community College,
AFL/CIO Job. Corps, Indiana school corporations, Indiana
Department of Education (IDOE) and other participating
corporations.
- · Indiana High School Summit: IDOE reform and redesign
through the "three R's:" rigor, redesign and relationships.
- · Strategic Planning Initiative: IDOE support of dropout
prevention and high school redesign initiatives.
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