Office for Education Policy Announces Top High School Graduation Rates in Arkansas

The Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas has published the first statewide analysis of high school graduation rates since the implementation of new and improved graduation rate indicators. The analysis relies on data from the Arkansas Department of Education based on a relatively new four-year adjusted cohort method of computing high school graduation rates.

The report includes lists of the top high schools in the state, and by regions, in terms of graduation rates for the overall student body and subgroup graduation rates for disadvantaged students. Moreover, the OEP report highlights new national data revealing that the high school graduation rates for the state of Arkansas for 2011-12 exceed the national average.

The study found that larger high schools and schools serving more economically disadvantaged students have lower graduation rates than other schools. The size of a high school’s enrollment is consistently negatively correlated with graduation rates, even though in Arkansas the largest high schools and districts often boast relatively high test score results.

The analysis did not examine what might be causing the positive results at smaller schools, but researchers in the past have hypothesized that smaller high schools may provide environments that are conducive to keeping students in school through graduation.

The Office for Education Policy, which is based in the College of Education and Health Professions, based its analysis on graduation rate data for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years for 273 high schools in Arkansas. As an important supplement to the report, the OEP researchers have posted the full database of high schools and graduation rate indicators on its website so that interested Arkansans can check out the results for their own schools, or download the entire dataset for additional analyses.

The OEP is staffed by faculty members, research associates and graduate students who specialize in education research and policy. It serves as a resource to state lawmakers, educators, administrators and other leaders, providing them with current national, state and regional research in education to support them in thoughtful decision-making concerning K-12 education in Arkansas.