GRADUATE REPORT: 2015 GARLAND INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT DECEMBER 2015 The purpose of this report is to comply with the requirements of Texas Education Code 39.306(a)(7) requiring annual reporting of information received under Texas Education Code 51.403(e) from the Texas High Education Coordinating Board concerning public education student enrollment and success in higher education. Due to timelines required for the capturing and reporting of the assembled data by the various educational agencies, including GISD, the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), the most current information available is reported, but may not reflect the most recent high school graduating class. Readers are encouraged to pay particular attention to graduating class years explained in the text and provided in graphs/tables. Based on graduation trends over the last fifteen years, the has experienced a fairly steady percentage of students graduating under college ready high school programs that is, Recommended High School Program (RHSP) and Distinguished Achievement Program (DAP). Figure 1 highlights GISD graduate program trends. FIGURE 1. HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES BY PROGRAM What is not as evident when looking at the changes in percentages of students graduating under various high school programs shown on Figure 1 is the increase in the number of students graduating each year. Between 2000 (N graduates = 2,500) and 2014 (N graduates = 3957), there was an increase of 1,457 students that represents a student increase of 58% over the past fifteen years. While not included in the graph, it is worth noting that the combined percentage of district RHSP/DAP graduates for the past three years has exceeded state percentages. State RHSP/DAP graduate rates are 81% (Class of 2012), 82% (Class of 2013), and 83% (Class of 2014); GISD RHSP/DAP graduate rates are 83%, 84%, and 84% respectively. In addition, the GISD Class of 2014 saw the highest percentage of DAP graduating students compared to any of the years displayed in the graph. The 9% represents 366 students who successfully completed high school programs of distinction, including additional course requirements. The goal of this report is to provide a glimpse into the college success of GISD graduates. This report is divided into sections to provide various elements related to college success of the most recent graduates for which data is available (most recent available varies by information reported). Tables are provided for the most recent graduates. Graphs provide a longitudinal perspective on trends over time. Data is reported for the district and individual high schools. DATA & METHODOLOGY Data for this report was captured from the THECB. The agency not only collects college enrollment, completion and data from two- and four-year colleges within Texas, but provides the data (report and data export) on its website: www.txhighereddata.org. GRADUATE REPORT PAGE 1
It is important to note that there are limitations to the available data. For example, because the data is provided by the THECB, college information is limited to public higher education institutions with the state of Texas; students who attend private colleges or out of state colleges are not captured in the data available from THECB. COLLEGE ENROLLMENT RESULTS Table 1 presents college enrollment for GISD students graduating in 2014 for the district, as well as each high school within the district. Sachse High School had the largest graduating class (n= 625), while three high school campuses saw 58% of their graduating classes enroll in a two- or four-year institution immediately following high school graduation (Fall 2014): Lakeview Centennial, North Garland, and Rowlett. Interestingly, while not noted in the chart the state percentage of high school graduates enrolling in college immediately following high school graduation has remained at 51% for the last three graduating classes: Class of 2014, Class of 2013, and Class of 2012). Six out of the eight GISD high school campuses in GISD exceeded the state college enrollment rate for the Class of 2014 GHS, LCHS, NFHS, NGHS, RHS, and SHS. TABLE 1. CLASS OF 2014 COLLEGE ENROLLMENT (FALL 2014) N Graduates 4-Year Institution 2-Year Institution Unknown GISD 3952 855 (22%) 1234 (31%) 1860 (47%) GHS 580 166 (29%) 157 (27%) 257 (44%) LCHS 580 159 (27%) 176 (30%) 245 (42%) MPA 140 5 (4%) 19 (14%) 116 (83%) NFHS 497 85 (17%) 194 (39%) 218 (44%) NGHS 490 107 (22%) 177 (36%) 206 (42%) RHS 584 137 (23%) 202 (35%) 245 (42%) SGHS 456 51 (11%) 116 (25%) 286 (63%) SHS 625 145 (23%) 193 (31%) 287 (46%) In addition to college enrollment for the graduating class of 2014, THECB provides data access to explore trends over time as displayed in Figure 2 on the next page. GRADUATE REPORT PAGE 2
FIGURE 2. LONGITUDINAL GRADUATE FALL SEMESTER FOLLOWING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION POSTSECONDARY ENROLLMENT Figure 2 provides a line graph showing district and campus college enrollment trends beginning with the graduating class of 2005 that s a 10 year perspective. Based on this data, the average rate of students enrolling in college immediately following high school graduation is 53%. It appears that the Class of 2008 had the highest percentage of students enrolling in college immediately following high school graduation (56%), while the Class of 2013 had the lowest rate (50%). COLLEGE PERFORMANCE RESULTS Due to a lag in the capturing and reporting of this data, the most recent high school graduating cohort with grade point averages (s) available is the graduating class of 2013. Table 2 presents the success of GISD high school graduates after completing their first year of college at a two-year public institution of higher education. It is encouraging to note that 53% of the GISD 2013 graduates earned a 2.0 or better in their first year college coursework at a two-year institution; while that s 6% decrease compared to the Class of 2012, there was an increase of 53 GISD graduates that attended a two-year institution when comparing these two years. Campuses with the highest percent of students earning a 2.0 or better after their first year of college include Garland High School (60% of their 185 graduates), North Garland High School (58% of their 171 graduates), and Sachse High School (58% of their 262 graduates). TABLE 2. CLASS OF 2013 FIRST YEAR COLLEGE AT 2-YEAR INSTITUTIONS > 3.5 3.0-3.49 2.5-2.99 2.0-2.49 < 1.99 Unknown GISD 1503 217 (14%) 232 (15%) 163 (11%) 192 (13%) 535 (36%) 164 (11%) GHS 185 36 (19%) 28 (15%) 22 (12%) 25 (14%) 56 (30%) 18 (10%) LCHS 171 15 (9%) 17 (10%) 21 (12%) 26 (15%) 71 (42%) 21 (12%) MPA 45 1 (2%) 6 (13%) 3 (7%) 3 (7%) 18 (40%) 14 (31%) NFHS 253 38 (15%) 40 (16%) 27 (11%) 37 (15%) 95 (38%) 16 (6%) NGHS 171 28 (16%) 34 (20%) 19 (11%) 19 (11%) 56 (33%) 15 (9%) RHS 243 34 (14%) 38 (16%) 24 (10%) 36 (15%) 91 (37%) 20 (8%) SGHS 173 18 (10%) 26 (15%) 16 (9%) 15 (9%) 65 (38%) 33 (19%) SHS 262 47 (18%) 43 (16%) 31 (12%) 31 (12%) 83 (32%) 27 (10%) GRADUATE REPORT PAGE 3
Table 3 presents the success of GISD high school 2013 graduates after completing their first year of college at a four-year public institution of higher education. Eighty percent of the GISD 2013 graduates earned a 2.0 or better in their first year college coursework at a four-year institution; that s a 1% increase when comparing the Class of 2012. TABLE 3. CLASS OF 2013 FIRST YEAR COLLEGE AT 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS > 3.5 3.0-3.49 2.5-2.99 2.0-2.49 < 1.99 Unknown GISD 690 141 (20%) 170 (25%) 145 (21%) 98 (14%) 134 (19%) 2 (0%) GHS 116 43 (37%) 30 (26%) 14 (12%) 10 (9%) 19 (16%) 0 (0%) LCHS 90 15 (17%) 14 (16%) 17 (19%) 15 (17%) 29 (32%) 0 (0%) MPA 0 NFHS 88 16 (18%) 17 (19%) 24 (27%) 17 (19%) 14 (16%) 0 (0%) NGHS 110 19 (17%) 24 (22%) 26 (24%) 13 (12%) 26 (24%) 2 (2%) RHS 128 20 (16%) 37 (29%) 33 (26%) 21 (16%) 17 (13%) 0 (0%) SGHS 41 4 (10%) 12 (29%) 6 (15%) 7 (17%) 12 (29%) 0 (0%) SHS 117 24 (21%) 36 (31%) 25 (21%) 15 (13%) 17 (15%) 0 (0%) Figure 3 takes a longitudinal look at the percentage of GISD graduates enrolled in a two- or four-year public institution of higher education that had a of 2.0 or higher after their first year of college based on graduating classes of 2009 to 2013 that s a five year longitudinal perspective. FIGURE 3. LONGITUDINAL TRENDS IN FIRST YEAR COLLEGE S Over the past five years, Garland High School has demonstrated the highest average percentage of students earning a first year college of 2.0 or higher (71%); Rowlett High school has the second highest average percentage (66%). COLLEGE COMPLETION RESULTS The following tables provide data on awarding of degrees or certificates within six years of high graduation after enrolling in a twoor four-year institution. Due to the nature of the higher education data collection, it is possible that students who earned a Bachelor s degree may have also earned a certificate or Associate s degree. In addition, it is not possible to determine the completion rates for GRADUATE REPORT PAGE 4
individual graduating classes, thus Table 4 provides information related to the college completion within six years for the GISD graduating classes of 2002, 2003, and 2004. It is possible that students may have earned certificates or degrees after the six year time limit imposed on this data collection. Campuses with the highest percent of students earning a certification, Associate s, or Bachelor s include Garland High School (57% of the 865 students in the 3-year cohort) and Naaman Forest High School (52% of the 1,142 students in the 3-year cohort). In addition, it s important to note that Sachse High School does not have data available for the presented graduating classes because the school did not have graduates until the class of 2005. TABLE 4. GRADUATING CLASS OF 2002, 2003, AND 2004 HIGHER EDUCATION OUTCOMES N Graduates Immediately Earned Certification Associate Bachelor GISD 5273 117 (2%) 519 (10%) 1872 (36%) GHS 865 14 (2%) 82 (9%) 402 (46%) LCHS 599 12 (2%) 50 (8%) 137 (23%) MPA 42 1 (2%) 3 (7%) 3 (7%) NFHS 1142 24 (2%) 125 (11%) 442 (39%) NGHS 823 28 (3%) 106 (13%) 257 (31%) RHS 1056 19 (2%) 85 (8%) 385 (36%) SGHS 746 19 (3%) 68 (9%) 246 (33%) SHS n/a --- --- --- Table 5 provides the similar information for the GISD graduating classes of 2005, 2006, and 2007. Forty-five percent of the GISD Graduating classes of 2005, 2006, and 2007 have earned a certification, Associate s, or Bachelor s within six years after high school graduation. Campuses with the highest percent of students earning a certification, Associate s, or Bachelor s include Garland High School (53% of the 771 students in the 3-year cohort) and North Garland High School (47% of the 840 students in the 3-year cohort). TABLE 5. GRADUATING CLASS OF 2005, 2006, AND 2007 HIGHER EDUCATION OUTCOMES N Graduates Immediately Earned Certification Associate Bachelor GISD 4985 69 (1%) 376 (8%) 1799 (36%) GHS 771 12 (2%) 56 (7%) 337 (44%) LCHS 597 13 (2%) 41 (7%) 176 (29%) MPA 37 2 (5%) 4 (11%) 2 (5%) NFHS 880 7 (1%) 62 (7%) 321 (36%) NGHS 840 10 (1%) 68 (8%) 316 (38%) RHS 1148 16 (1%) 93 (8%) 428 (37%) SGHS 712 9 (1%) 52 (7%) 219 (31%) GRADUATE REPORT PAGE 5
N Graduates Immediately Earned Certification Associate Bachelor SHS 795 10 (1%) 72 (9%) 242 (30%) Unfortunately, the Texas Higher Education Data website has not been updated to reflect information for the next three cohorts (Class of 2008, 2009, and 2010) because those classes have not had a six-year opportunity to complete a degree program. It is anticipated that this information may become available in the fall of 2016, at which time another table will be added to this report. SUMMARY This is the third annual report looking at GISD high school graduates and their post-secondary activities. The information presented above demonstrates that GISD graduates are enrolling, meeting with success, and completing college programs in the state of Texas. The GISD Board of Trustees and district leadership continue to make student preparation for college success a priority through several initiatives, including the financial support of the following: a) PSAT for all 10 th & 11 th grade students (beginning fall 2013); b) participation in the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) at four GISD campuses: LCHS, NFHS, NGHS, and SGHS (beginning fall of 2014); c) PSAT for all 8 th & 9 th grade students (beginning fall 2015); d) SAT School Day for all 11 th grade students (beginning spring 2016); and e) AP testing (beginning spring 2016). The following recommendations are continued recommendations based on the data presented in this and previous Graduate Reports: High school graduation plans were changed during the 83 rd Texas Legislature. The first graduating cohort under the new graduation plans will be the Class of 2018. Priority should be placed on ensuring that students continue to graduate on advanced degree programs (similar to RHSP/DAP) or with graduation plan endorsements evidencing a rigorous high school program aimed at preparation for college or career opportunities; Continue to prioritize career and college readiness through a variety of programs, including a comprehensive assessment program that assists with the identification of students that are capable of successful completion of dual credit, pre-ap and Advanced Placement (AP) coursework, and pre-ib and International Baccalaureate (IB) coursework; and Assist students with developing behaviors and habits that support academic tenacity so that students that begin a postsecondary institution following high school graduation possess the characteristics to meet with success thorough their first-year of college until degree completion. GRADUATE REPORT PAGE 6