Dive Brief:

• Michael Sentance, Alabama’s new state superintendent of education, said that high schools have “misstated student records” and the state's education department failed to provide proper oversight, contributing to inflated graduation rates across the state.
• WBHM reports Alabama’s high school graduation rate has risen 17% since 2011 to 89%, while the average increase nationally was just 4.2% — and even though the former state superintendent lauded the progress, it has been called into question by state and federal officials.
• Sentance has already identified two state practices that led to the inflated rates: It counted special education students earning the Alabama Occupational Diploma in total graduation rate numbers, and it failed to flag districts for allowing students to graduate without completing all of their required coursework.

Dive Insight:

NPR did a massive investigation of high school graduation rates last year, calling into question the nation’s historically high 81% rate. Reporters across 14 member stations found evidence of mislabeling students, finding ways to avoid counting them, and easing graduation requirements. The Obama administration made it a key priority to raise rates, however, which could have provided perverse incentives to exaggerate progress.

Los Angeles Unified School District announced a 75% graduation rate this summer for the class of 2016 that has since been called into question because of especially lenient credit recovery policies. Students who used credit recovery for some of their core classes will not even be able to count them toward entrance requirements in some of the state universities. Superintendent Michelle King has already announced changes to the program to make it more rigorous this year.