Graduation rates for Indiana students dipped slightly to about 87% last year, according to state data, falling most steeply among student groups with the lowest graduation rates.
High school graduation rates dipped in at least 20 states after the first full school year disrupted by the pandemic, suggesting the coronavirus may have ended nearly two decades of nationwide progress toward getting more students diplomas, an analysis by Chalkbeat shows.
The drops came despite at least some states and educators loosening standards to help struggling students.
Graduation rates fell 3 percentage points among Black students, 2.6 points among Hispanic students, and 6 points among Native American students. They also fell by 4 points among English learners and students from low-income families.
Indiana had about 67,500 graduates in the Class of 2021, which experienced COVID-related disruptions throughout senior year.
Those students represent 86.7% of their class, one point lower than that of the Class of 2020.
The 2021 rate includes some students who received a waiver from the state’s graduation exam. Students qualify for a waiver if they meet certain other requirements, like showing workforce readiness.
In 2020, the state granted a blanket waiver to seniors — thus complicating any comparison between the past two years’ high school classes.
A higher percentage of students passed the exam to graduate last year than did in 2019. In that year, which required a graduation exam, 87.3% graduated.
This year’s rates offer a look at the circumstances that students faced over a year of pandemic learning, said Jill Shedd, assistant dean for teacher education at the Indiana University College of Education.
While they can help gauge how the year went, they shouldn’t be taken as characteristic of the graduating class, she added, many of whom experienced challenges in accessing education.
“I am not convinced that they are an accurate measure of our seniors’ potential, what they’re able to know,” Shedd said. “The fact that so many did graduate, and were extremely resilient doing as well as they did, speaks a lot about their capabilities and who they are as persons, which are important elements that are never going to be captured on pencil and paper.”
The results, according to data obtained from 26 states and analyzed by Chalkbeat, are the latest concerning trend in American education, which has been rocked by a pandemic that left many students learning remotely last year and continues to complicate teaching and learning. Some fear that the next several graduating classes could be even more affected.
Graduation rates for 2021 varied among schools and student groups. One prevalent pattern was a jump in rates from 2019 to 2020, followed by a drop in 2021.
| Barr-Reeve Community Schools Inc | Barr Reeve Middle/High School | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0 |
| Bartholomew Con School Corp | Columbus North High School | 87.90% | 84.09% | -3.81 |
| Bartholomew Con School Corp | Columbus East High School | 85.01% | 85.86% | 0.85 |
| Bloomfield School District | Bloomfield High School | 92.45% | 93.10% | 0.65 |
| Brown County School Corporation | Brown County High School | 82.29% | 87.34% | 5.05 |
| East Washington School Corp | Eastern High School | 81.08% | 83.00% | 1.92 |
| Linton-Stockton School Corporation | Linton-Stockton High School | 89.77% | 84.91% | -4.86 |
| Loogootee Community Sch Corp | Loogootee High School | 89.86% | 88.41% | -1.45 |
| Medora Community School Corp | Medora Jr & Sr High School | 90.91% |
| Mitchell Community Schools | Mitchell High School | 75.76% | 90.91% | 15.15 |
| Monroe Central School Corp | Monroe Central Jr-Sr High School | 98.82% | 90.54% | -8.28 |
| Monroe County Community Sch Corp | Bloomington High School South | 97.21% | 92.06% | -5.15 |
| Monroe County Community Sch Corp | Bloomington High School North | 90.10% | 95.21% | 5.11 |
| Monroe County Community Sch Corp | The Acad of Sci & Entrepreneurship | 100.00% | 88.89% | -11.11 |
| Monroe County Community Sch Corp | Bloomington Graduation School | 56.76% | 58.82% | 2.06 |
| Monroe-Gregg School District | Monrovia High School | 90.54% | 86.76% | -3.78 |
| North Daviess Com Schools | North Daviess Jr-Sr High School | 93.75% | 98.61% | 4.86 |
| North Lawrence Com Schools | Bedford-North Lawrence High School | 89.57% | 86.42% | -3.15 |
| Orleans Community Schools | Orleans Jr-Sr High School | 96.23% | 94.64% | -1.59 |
| Paoli Community School Corp | Paoli Jr & Sr High School | 89.60% | 80.46% | -9.14 |
| Seymour Community Schools | Seymour Senior High School | 91.56% | 74.62% | -16.94 |
| Shoals Community School Corp | Shoals Community High School | 93.88% | 88.68% | -5.2 |
| Springs Valley Com School Corp | Springs Valley Comm High School | 97.10% | 98.33% | 1.23 |
| Washington Community Schools | Washington High School | 95.81% | 89.07% | -6.74 |
| West Washington School Corp | West Washington Jr-Sr High School | 94.29% | 93.02% | -1.27 |
