Nearly 81 out of 100 Seniors Graduate in MCPS with Regular Diploma, Education Week Study Finds

A study released by Education Week today finds that the graduation rate in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) ranks at the top among the nation’s 50 largest school districts, tied for first place with the Cypress-Fairbanks school district in Texas. MCPS is the 16th largest school district in the nation, while Cypress-Fairbanks ranks 35th in size.

Last year MCPS was among the nation’s top three in graduation rate.

The MCPS graduation rate of 80.7 percent surpasses the national average of 69.2 percent and the Maryland average of 73.5 percent. The Education Week study, Diplomas Count 2009, used 2006 data, the most recent available for this nationwide analysis.

“We are proud of the excellent performance of our students,” said Board of Education President Shirley Brandman. “Our goal is for every one of our students to graduate prepared for education beyond high school and for the demands of the workplace.”

“MCPS is committed to providing an academic pathway that will help all of our students graduate with the tools they need to succeed,” said Dr. Jerry D. Weast, superintendent of schools. “I am very proud of our outstanding staff of educators, supporting services employees, and administrators who are making that success possible.”

Diplomas Count 2009 is an analysis of high school completion conducted by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. Graduation rates for the nation, states, and every school district in the country are calculated using the Cumulative Promotion Index method and data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data.