While Osceola graduation rates down, some groups saw gains

Osceola County’s graduation rate fell again last year, from 85.2% in the 2021-2022 school year to 84.8% in the 2022-2023 school year, per statistics released at the Feb. 27 School Board meeting.

However, over the past 10 years, Osceola County has seen a 7% overall increase in graduation rates. At the Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Shanoff explained some of the data and highlighted current steps in place to improve the rates.

“All but Indian River County saw decline over the past three years as new rules around concordant scores were implemented,” he said, looking at Osceola and nine neighboring counties. “We did see easing of rules by FDOE in and around the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, and those have since gone away.”

Shanoff singled out some school subgroups that performed well last year: Tohopekaliga High School English Language Learners (ELL) graduation rate increased by 6.6%; Gateway High School’s Student with Disabilities graduation rate increased by 12%; Celebration High School overall graduation rate increased by 2.4%; and Osceola High School overall graduation rate increased by 2.6%.

“These are important because when you look at subgroup performance, you want to look at where you might be able to replicate where the strategies are strong,” he said.  “So, if there's something that's being operationalized in a new and innovative way, that actually helps us move ELL data or helps us move ESE data, then we want to make sure that we generalize that to the sites that could benefit.”

While Liberty High School’s graduation rate remained the same at 76%, Shanoff praised the work and progress they have been making. “Liberty High School had our highest pass rate on the CLT for both ELA and math, which means we’ve got students that are now getting their concordant score and will cross the stage when before, they didn’t have that. That is good news,” he said.

“I saw it firsthand in Liberty for myself, and this is where I think Liberty is really doing some phenomenal work. Miss (Joyce) Conyers, the graduation coach at Liberty, actually has all of the students’ pictures on slides, along with the things that they need in order to graduate, to ensure that all the teachers at the school are well aware of what supports are needed to get the students across the stage…. It’s making sure that everybody around the campus is literate about those students that aren't there yet, and I think that that will help offset some of that, and really put faces with the percentages before they end up becoming negative withdrawals or dropouts.”

Shanoff said that at-risk students can be determined in the 9th grade.

“We are now tracking data very closely relative to graduation requirements among all of our students in high schools, not just our seniors,” he said. Once students are identified as underperforming in a school quarter, Shanoff said the school counselors and principals are meeting with them in order to increase the number of touchpoints along the way for students who are not meeting the standards. 

Graduation rates demonstrate the health of the school district, he said.

“Am I guaranteeing that in five years, we will be at 99%? No. I’m saying, though, that we will have structures and systems in place that will be responsive to the characteristics that are keeping our students from being able to cross the stage. That is our promise.”