Graduation rate for school district’s minority students rises
A higher percentage of minority students left the Clark County School District with a diploma during the 2005-06 school year compared with the previous year, with Hispanic students making the biggest strides.
According to the district’s latest figures, every ethnic group except for American Indian students improved their graduation rates last school year. Hispanic students improved the most, boosting their graduation rates for high school seniors to 53.6 percent, up from 48.1 percent during the 2004-05 school year. American Indian students saw a dip in their graduation rates, from 51.7 percent of seniors graduating in the 2004-05 school year to 50.6 percent of seniors graduating during the 2005-06 school year.
But even with the decline in graduation rates for American Indian students, the district’s minority population improved its graduation rate on average by 2.6 percentage points in the 2005-06 school year compared with the previous school year.
The graduation rate is a four-year calculation that takes into account students who enter or leave the district during that time. The latest figures from the school system have not been verified by education officials with the state. But district officials are confident they will stick.
Superintendent Walt Rulffes said that he is disappointed in the slight plunge in graduation rates for American Indian students but that the higher graduation rates bode well for the district.
“That’s the pinnacle measure we use for success,” Rulffes said of graduation rates. “There are endless opportunities for people in this world who are educated.”
White students also increased their graduation rates, to 70.8 percent last school year, up from 67.6 percent during the 2004-05 school year.
Rulffes said the improvement for minorities can be attributed to many initiatives recently begun by the district. District officials have focused on sophomores to have them pass the proficiency exam on their first try, Rulffes said. Students must pass the state exam in reading, writing and math to receive a diploma.
Rulffes also said programs such as AVID, which focuses on pupils who are considered average students, block scheduling in high school and an improvement in the district’s English Language Learner program all have paid dividends.
Hispanics make up the largest ethnic group of students in the district with nearly 117,500 students, nearly 39 percent of all students. About 55 percent of Hispanics are enrolled in the ELL program, Of those, about 75 percent are American-born, Rulffes said.
“I’m excited about the Hispanic (graduation) rate being up,” Rulffes said. “It reflects the changing culture in Las Vegas. We have to pay more attention to minority cultures.”
AVID, the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, offers extra help in math, science and writing to students who would be classified as average. The goal of the program, which began three years ago, is to have the students take advanced placement courses.
The school system has expanded the number of schools that offer block scheduling, in which a school can offer two or more classes per semester than a traditional high school. Block scheduling allows students who are behind in credits the opportunity to catch up without having to take summer school.
Tom Rodriguez, executive manager for the district’s diversity and affirmative action programs, said that because the district is a majority-minority school system — meaning it has more minority students than white students — the performance of minority students will have far-reaching effects in determining the district’s graduation rate.
Rodriguez said more Hispanics are coming into the district at a younger age, and therefore they are benefiting from 13 years of education.
To support his claim, Rodriguez said about 45 percent of the 23,000 students enrolled in kindergarten in the district, nearly 10,500 students, are Hispanic.
He said that because Hispanic students are spending more years in the school system, they will continue to improve.
“You’re going to see the trend continue, certainly for Latinos,” Rodriguez said of the improved graduation rates for minorities.
Kalab Willman, who graduated Tuesday from Rancho High School and attended the commencement ceremony at the Thomas & Mack Center, said as an American Indian student, he is disappointed more students of his race are not graduating.
“People don’t take pride in their ethnicity like they used to,” Willman said. “But I didn’t graduate just to say, ‘I graduated as a Native American.’ I graduated to say, ‘I did it.'”
Willman will attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and study business management in the fall.
Albert Taylor, who also was at the ceremony at Thomas & Mack, boasted that his daughter Ka’chirri Taylor graduated from Rancho with honors.
Taylor, who is black, said his daughter will attend UNLV in the fall and will study biology with plans to be a doctor.
Black students increased their graduation rate to 51.7 percent in the 2005-06 school year, up from 48.8 percent the previous school year.
Taylor said the answer to why many black students struggle to graduate can be found inside their homes.
“A lot of kids come from single-family homes,” he said. “It’s hard to maintain when you come from that. But if you come from a well-maintained home, you’ll have successful kids.”
