Kentucky Department of Education shows local school districts hold dropout rates below 1% and graduation rates over 85%. Only one district is below the 90% mark.
The data shows graduation rates for four-year and five-year cohorts. The rates take the year a student enters the ninth grade and when the student completes their high school diploma to determine the cohort in which the student belongs.
“Graduation rate is the percentage of students completing the requirements for a Kentucky high school diploma compared to a cohort of students beginning in Grade 9,” the KDE website states. “Kentucky uses both a five-year and four-year adjusted cohort rate in accountability. The five-year rate recognizes the persistence of students and educators in completing the requirements for a Kentucky high school diploma.”
The state as a whole set a graduation rate in 2019-20 goal of 95% in the four-year cohort and 96% in the five-year cohort.
East Carter High School has the highest graduation rate for any local high school in both cohorts. Carter County as a whole and Russell Independent share the top two spots for each cohort year.
Lawrence County rounds out the list with the lowest graduation rates for both cohorts. However, Lawrence shares the highest graduation rate goals in the area which match the statewide goals of 95% and 96%.
Graduation rates by district in the four-year cohort:
• Russell — 97.7%, 173 of 177 students
• Carter County — 97.4%, 261 of 268 students; East Carter — 99.3%, 152 of 153 students; West Carter — 94.7%, 107 of 113 students
• Raceland-Worthington — 95.1%, 78 of 82 students
• Ashland — 94.1%, 208 of 221 students
• Greenup County — 93.8%, 187 of 193 students
• Fairview — 92.3%, 48 of 52 students
• Lewis County — 91.5%, 130 of 142 students
• Elliott County — 90.7%, 78 of 86 students
• Boyd County — 90.2%, 222 of 246 students
• Lawrence County — 97.7%, 173 of 177 students
Graduation rates by district in the five-year cohort:
• Carter County — 98.7%, 301 of 305 students; East Carter — 99.4%, 169 of 170 students; West Carter — 97.6%, 124 of 127 students
• Russell — 98.4%, 127 of 129 students
• Elliott County — 96%, 72 of 75 students
• Lewis County — 96%, 169 of 176 students
• Greenup County — 93.9%, 163 of 177 students
• Ashland — 95.2%, 199 of 209 students
• Boyd County — 94.7%, 196 of 207 students
• Raceland-Worthington — 94.4% 67 of 71 students
• Fairview — 93.2%, 41 of 44 students
• Lawrence County — 92.1%, 163 of 177 students
Carter County and Russell are the only two local district to meet or exceed their goals in both cohorts. In Carter County, West Carter exceeded goal in the five-year cohort, but was slightly under its four-year cohort goal.
Districts that met their four-year cohort goal are Carter County, Russell and Raceland-Worthington. These districts all met the highest goal in the area and the statewide goals.
Those that met their five-year cohort goal are Ashland, Carter County, Elliott County, Fairview, Greenup County, Lewis County and Russell. Boyd County and Lawrence County did not meet either goal.
Those looking to reach the statewide goal of 95% for the four-year cohort are Carter County, Lawrence County, Lewis County, Raceland-Worthington and Russell. Those reaching for the 96% state goal in the five-year cohort are Carter County, Elliott County, Lawrence County and Russell.
Lawrence was short of the goal by the largest margin at 9.2% for the four-year cohort and 3.9% for the five-year cohort. East Carter had the largest margin above the goal with 4.3% over in the four-year cohort and 3.4% in the five-year cohort. Raceland was 0.1% over or under its goals for both cohorts.
Four-year cohort goals and difference for each district:
• Ashland — Goal: 95%, Actual: 94.1%, Difference: -0.5%;
• Boyd County — Goal: 94.6%, Actual: 90.2%, Difference: -4.4%;
• Carter County — Goal: 95%, Actual: 97.4%, Difference: +2.4%;
-East Carter — Goal: 95%, Actual: 99.3%, Difference: +4.3%
-West Carter — Goal: 95%, Actual: 94.7%, Difference: -0.3%
• Elliott County — Goal: 92.5%, Actual: 90.7%, Difference: -1.8%
• Fairview — Goal: 94.3%, Actual: 92.3%, Difference: -2.0%
• Greenup County — Goal: 94.9%, Actual: 93.8%, Difference: -1.1%
• Lawrence County — Goal: 95%, Actual: 85.8%, Difference: -9.2%
• Lewis County — Goal: 95%, Actual: 91.5%, Difference: -3.5%
• Raceland-Worthington: Goal: 95%, Actual: 95.1%, Difference: +0.1%
• Russell: Goal: 95%, Actual: 97.7%, Difference: +2.7%
Five-year cohort goals and differences by district:
• Ashland — Goal: 93.3%, Actual: 95.2%, Difference -0.5%
• Boyd County — Goal: 95%; Actual: 94.7%, Difference: -0.3%
• Carter County — Goal: 96%, Actual: 98.7%, Difference: +2.7%;
-East Carter — Goal: 96%, Actual: 99.4%, Difference: +3.4%
-West Carter — Goal: 96%, Actual: 97.6%, Difference: +1.6%
• Elliott County —Goal: 92.5%, Actual: 96%, Difference: 0%
• Fairview — Goal: 91%, Actual: 93.2%, Difference: +2.2%
• Greenup County — Goal: 95.8%, Actual: 95.9%, Difference: +0.1%
• Lawrence County — Goal: 95%, Actual: 85.8%, Difference: -9.2%
• Lewis County — Goal: 95%, Atual: 91.5%, Difference: -3.5%
• Raceland-Worthington: Goal: 94.5%, Actual: 94.4%, Difference: -0.1%
• Russell: Goal: 96%, Actual: 98.4%, Difference: +2.7%
Dropout and retention
The Kentucky School Report Card system analyzes the dropout and retention rates of students in each district.
“The dropout rate is the percent of students that dropout of school in grades 7 through 12,” states the KDE webpage. “Dropout data is lagged one year in reporting.”
Dropout rate by district:
Kentucky — 3,250 students, 1.1%
Lawrence County — 8 students, 0.7%
Lewis County — 7 students, 0.7%
Fairview — 2 students, 0.6%
Raceland-Worthington — 3 students, 0.6%
Ashland — 6 students, 0.4%
Boyd County — 5 students, 0.4%
Elliott County — 2 students, 0.4%
Greenup County — 5 students, 0.4%
Carter County — 2 students, 0.1%
Russell — 1 student, 0.1%
Student retention uses the student membership data to calculate the percentage of the student body who repeated a grade. The data concerns those retained in the fourth through 12th grades.
Retention rates by district:
Lawrence County — 48 students, 2.01%
Lewis County — 37 students, 1.75%
Fairview — 8 students, 1.24%
Kentucky — 7531 students, 1.24%
Boyd County — 28 students, 0.98%
Elliott County — 2 students, 0.21%
Raceland-Worthington — 1 student, 0.11%
Ashland — 3 students, 0.10%
Greenup County — 2 students, 0.08%
Carter County — 2 students, 0.05%
Russell — 1 student, 0.05%
