Title I regulations (see Section 200.19) require states to report four-year adjusted cohort graduation rates, disaggregated by student group, at the school, district, and State levels beginning with four-year rates for the Class of 2010.

Extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rates may also be reported, upon approval of the the U. S. Department of Education. Wisconsin is seeking approval for use of six-year adjusted cohort graduation rates and begin reporting, if approved, with 2011-12 rates. Until 2011-12, Wisconsin intends to continue reporting rates according to the legacy rate formula used since 2003-04.

A mockup of the new Wisconsin graduation/completion rate report is provided below. Wisconsin reported adjusted cohort rates in this manner beginning with 2009-10 4-year rates.

GRADUATION/COMPLETION REPORT MOCKUP -- ADJUSTED COHORT RATES

Timeframe: All Timeframes • Four-Year Rate • Six-Year Rate • Legacy Rate (By Age 21)
View By: All Students • Gender • Race/Ethnicity • Disability • Economic Status • English Proficiency
Compare To: Prior Years • District/State • Selected Schools • Current Data Only

Note: Data for 4- and 6-Year timeframes are first available for 2009-10 and 2011-12 rates, respectively. These rates will be used for school system accountability purposes beginning with 2011-12 (4-Year) and 2012-13 (6-Year) adequate yearly progress determinations. The Legacy Rates are based on a 2003-04 formula that includes students continuing until age 21. For more information about Legacy Rates, see Legacy Rate - Report Mockup.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS - ADJUSTED COHORT RATES

Total Expected to Complete High School. Count of students who were expected to complete high school within a given timeframe, four year or six year, whether or not the students actually did. All students who enter high school are expected to complete high school. Total expected to complete high school is the denominator used to calculate graduation and completion rates and is the total number of noncompleters plus completers. For four-year and six-year rates, this total is the count of students in the Adjusted Cohort for the graduating class. See Adjusted Cohort below.

• Adjusted Cohort. Students associated with a specific graduating class, adjusted for each school due to changes in the enrollment status of students. Students are assigned to one and only one statewide cohort when they first enroll in a high school grade in WI public schools. At the end of the selected graduation timeframe, 4-year or 6-year, adjustments are made to remove any student from the his/her assigned cohort if the most recent WI public school has written confirmation that the student has transferred to another state or a nonpublic WI school, emigrated to another country, or is deceased prior to the end of that timeframe. Each remaining student in the cohort is included in the count of students in the adjusted cohort for the most recent WI public school accountable for the student.
• Statewide Cohort. Students assigned to a specific Wisconsin graduating class. Assignment occurs based on the school year of a student's first high school enrollment period and their grade level placement at that time. Once a student is assigned to a cohort, that cohort is used statewide and is permanent. For each graduation timeframe, whether that timeframe is four years or six years, each statewide cohort is associated with a school year during or before which all students in that cohort are expected to graduate.

Noncompleters. Students in the adjusted cohort who, as of the end of the timeframe, had not earned any completion credential in WI public schools.

• Not Known to be Continuing. Status of a high school noncompleter who, as of the end of the timeframe, was not known to be continuing in high school. Students who counted in multiple annual dropout events over the multi-year graduation timeframe count no more than once here. Students who dropped out before being assigned to a cohort or who were counted as an annual dropout event and later returned to continue high school are not counted here. Students who complete the final school year of the timeframe without evidence of high school continuation the next year are counted here but would not count as an annual dropout event until the following year. Any noncompleter in the adjusted cohort who is not counted in other noncompleter columns to the right is counted here.
• Reached Maximum Age. Status of a noncompleter who, as of the end of the timeframe, either (a) reached the maximum age of eligibility for a free public education at the time of exit from the most recent WI public school or (b) had no exit but reached that maximum age at the end of the timeframe.
• Known to be Continuing. Status of a high school noncompleter who, as of the end of the timeframe, was known to be continuing high school. Examples include students without exit dates in the rate year or students with confirmed transfers to another WI public school at the beginning of the next school year. Students who completed the school term of the rate year and then transferred to a nonpublic WI school or another state to continue high school are also counted in this total.

Completers. Students in the adjusted cohort who, as of the end of the timeframe, had earned any high school completion credential in WI public schools. Credentials earned at the end of the timeframe, before the end of the timeframe (including earlier school years), or during the summer session immediately following the school term at the end of the timeframe are counted as being earned during the timeframe. For students with multiple credentials, the highest credential is counted. High school completion credentials include the following: regular diplomas, HSEDs, and certificates/other. Students who earned regular diplomas are counted as graduates. For more information about credentials, see Submitting and Publicly Reporting Data about High School Completion Credentials.

DATA SOURCES - ADJUSTED COHORT RATES

All data used in calculating adjusted cohort rates come from the Individual Student Enrollment System (ISES) Year End records. 2009-10 4-Year Rates use 5 years of ISES data, 2005-06 through 2009-10. 4-Year Rates for each successive school year will use a corresponding set of 5 years of ISES data. 6-Year rates require 7 years of ISES data.

The key ISES data elements used in the calculation of the adjusted cohort graduation rate are: completed term indicator, exit type, grade level placement, high school completion credential, max age year, accountable district, accountable school, expected transfer district/school, and student group. Assignment to a cohort is based on each's student's first high school enrollment record in ISES. Accountable district, accountable school, and student group identification for disaggregated graduation rate reporting purposes will be based on the data in the ISES record containing the highest completion credential earned during the timeframe, or, for noncompleters, the most recent ISES record during the timeframe. For noncompleters, if exit type is ETC in the most recent record during the timeframe, then expected transfer district/school may be the accountable district/school.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, see:

Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rates
Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate Tip Sheet and Check list for WSLS/ISES Administrators
Improving High School Graduation
Legacy Graduation/Completion Rate -  Report Mockup (2003-04 formula)
Graduation/Completion Rates on WINSS
Title I Regulations
High School Graduation Rate, Non-Regulatory Guidance
Submitting and Publicly Reporting Data about High School Completion Credentials
Understanding High School Completion Data