Cobb Schools Graduation Rate Rises, New Figures Show

MARIETTA, GA — New statewide graduation figures released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Education show Cobb County's graduation rate increased by 1.6 points to 85.18 percent, which exceeds the state average of 81.6 by 3.5 points. This is the highest graduation rate for Cobb since the current method of measuring the graduation rate began 2012, and the fourth straight year the rate exceeded 80 percent.

Lassiter High School led with a graduation rate of 95.58. Harrison High School and Walton High School also returned rates above 95. Three additional Cobb schools graduated more than 90 percent of their students including Allatoona High School, 92.96 percent; Hillgrove High School, 93.87 percent; and Pope High School, 94.09 percent.

Nine schools increased their rate with Pebblebrook High School topping the list at 6.2 percentage
points. Both Campbell High School and Kennesaw Mountain High School raised their graduation rates by
more than four percentage points.

Like Campbell, the rate at which Sprayberry High School students graduate has continued to increase over the past three years. Campbell’s graduation rate has risen by 17.4 percentage points since 2014. Sprayberry’s rate increased by 5.3 percentage points over the same period to 86.21 in 2018.

The federally mandated method for calculating graduation rate includes all students enrolled during a
four-year period even those enrolled for a single day. When including only those students who enrolled
in a Cobb high school for at least two years, the rate rises to 90.5 percent. For those students who are
enrolled in Cobb for all four years of high school, the rate rises to 97.1 percent.

Overall, Georgia’s high school graduation rate increased again in 2018, rising to 81.6 percent from 80.6 percent in 2017. State officials said this is an all-time high for Georgia’s graduation rate since the state began using the adjusted cohort calculation now required by federal law. Seventy-four Georgia school districts recorded 2018 graduation rates at or above 90 percent.

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