High school graduation rates in Texas hit a record high last year, according to by the Texas Education Agency.
Eighty-six percent of the class of 2011 graduated "on-time," a measure that counts ninth graders who graduate within four years. When you expand it to five years, the graduation rate was 92 percent. Hispanics, African-Americans, and white students all posted gains.
However, the speed at which graduation rates are improving slowed. Schools showed a 1.6 percentage gain in the 2011 school year, compared to a 3.7 percent increase the year before. But the Texas Education Agency says it鈥檚 not a big concern.
鈥淭he higher your graduation rate gets, the harder it is to make big gains,鈥� says TEA spokesperson Debbie Ratcliff. 鈥淭hink about this: If you have a kid whose earning a 95 on a paper, it鈥檚 harder for that child to show much improvement than it is for somebody that鈥檚 earning a grade of 70 to move up. As long as the trend continues upward, we鈥檙e happy with it.鈥�
In the Austin school district, graduated last school year. That was the fourth consecutive year of gains.
