According to the MA DOE, “The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education {Fb. 28, 2017] announced that the state’s four-year graduation rate improved for the 10th consecutive year, with 87.5 percent of students who entered as ninth graders in 2012-13 – or who transferred into that same cohort at any time during high school – graduating within four years. In addition to the overall improvement in the graduation rate, the graduation rate for all major ethnic and racial groups and for urban districts continues to grow. The state’s annual dropout rate remained at 1.9 percent in 2015-16, the lowest overall rate in more than three decades.”

The 87.5 percent increase in 2016 is up slightly from the 87.3 percent statewide graduation rate in 2015. The largest gains were for Black males(up 2.9 percentage points from 72.8 to 75.7 percent)and students with disabilities (up 1.9 percentage points from 69.9 to 71.8 percent).

In Boston, graduation rates climbed to 72.4 percent in 2016. Such gains are a substantial improvement for the city of Boston, which ten years ago saw 4-year graduation rates at around 59 percent.

Sources:

MA DOE. “Massachusetts’ Four-Year Graduation Rate Improves for 10th Consecutive Year.”http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=24221

Vainness, James and Laura Crimaldi. “State’s high school graduation rate sets record as Boston makes strides.” Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/28/high-school-graduation-rate-all-time-bay-state/p8zbRmyQ4CX9vnWPMPJQGJ/story.html. 28 Feb. 2017