State releases ‘college-ready’ statistics

The New York State Education Department released a new set of graduation statistics on Monday, Feb. 7, which showed a majority of students in the state are graduating without being adequately prepared for higher education.

The statistics showed that in 2009, only 41 percent of students in the state — not counting special education students — were ready for college and careers after graduating high school. They also showed that only 23 percent of New York City students graduated college- and career-ready.

Currently, the state’s graduation rate is 77 percent, and New York City’s graduation rate is 64 percent — both much higher than their new, college-ready rates.

The new set of graduation statistics define college- and career-ready students as those who receive both a score of 80 or above on their math Regents exam, and 75 or above on their English Regents exam. These scores were chosen because determined to correlate with receiving C’s in college-level math and English courses. Currently, the state’s general education graduation requirements for a diploma include a score of 65 or above on four of the state’s five Regents exams.

According to the Board of Regents, which dictates the state’s education policies, work began nearly a year ago to establish the new statistics, in an attempt to better align state standards to its college students’ performances.

The board met in February to figure out how the new statistics should be used, and is planning to issue a decision in the spring. The Board of Regents has already decided that, beginning next year, high school seniors will need a 65 or above on all five Regents exams to graduate.

Warren Meierdiercks, superintendent of the Sewanhaka Central High School District, said the graduation rate for the district, which includes five high schools, is much higher than the rest of the state, at nearly 97 percent — a number the district has generally maintained over the past five years.