Superintendent: Stoneham High School Graduation Rate 'Above State Average'

The Boston Globe reports that a new national report places Massachusetts among the states with the strongest gains in high school graduation rates between 2002 and 2009.

According to the Building a Grad Nation report, the graduation rate for the Class of 2009 in Massachusetts was 83.3 percent, up from 77.6 in 2002, according to the report.

Stoneham's graduation rate in 2009 was 89.9 percent, according to figures from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"Our graduation rate is significantly above the state average, and our annual drop-out rate of about three percent is significantly below the state average," Superintendent Dr. Les Olson wrote in an email to Stoneham Patch. 

Nationally, the graduation rate was 75.5 percent, compared to the 2002 rate of 72.6 percent.

The Globe reported that Massachusetts was among 12 states with the strongest gains in their graduation rates in the seven-year period covered by the report.

Building a Grad Nation has set a goal, the Globe reported, of achieving a 90 percent graduation rate in each state by 2020 and eliminating dropout factories—high schools that graduate 60 percent or less of its students—by 2016.

Below are the most recent unadjusted four-year graduation rate statistics available for , taken from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education:

Percent
GED

Olson wrote that, "Over the past five years, our four-year graduation rate has fluctuated between 87-92 percent. This does not include other students who ultimately graduate after completion of an additional semester or who obtain a GED and go on to employment or further education. Given our enrollment, this annual variation can be attributed to a change in as few as four students."

The Globe also reported that the state Legislature's Education Committee has recommended passage of a bill that would prohibit Massachusetts students from dropping out of school before age 18, instead of 16 as the law now stands.

The bill would also "establish a program enabling high schools with a drop-out rate of 10 percent or more to hire a graduation coach, funded by the Commonwealth, to engage at-risk students and their families, connect them with resources and identify opportunities for educational support, motivate students to focus on a graduation plan, and assist with reenrollment of students," said Sen. Katherine Clark in an .

Of the bill, Olson wrote, "I'm not sure that either the increase in the age limit or the employment of 'graduation coaches' would have a significant impact on our graduation rate."

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for states to raise the dropout age. Do you agree? Take our poll and discuss in the comments below.