Overstating graduation rates

Newsday reports today that a number of school districts in Long Island are graduating fewer students than previous figures indicated. A new State Department of Ed. survey (which calculates graduation rates differently this year - for instance, students who graduated in the summer after their senior year are not included in the new graduation figures, and students that transferred in their junior or senior year are now included in the data) shows some pretty big drops in some districts from 2003 to 2004, although Long Island is still well above the state average. It's hard to say what the outcome of the statistical change will be - it will probably upset a lot of school districts by lowering graduation rates, but it could also identify areas where students need more help.