Since July 2005, all 50 states have signed the National Governors Association's Graduation Counts Compact on State High School Graduation Data. In the compact, governors agreed to take steps to implement a standard, four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate. The North Carolina Four-Year Cohort Graduation Rate reflects the percentage of ninth graders who graduated from high school four years later. The five-year Cohort Graduation Rate reflects the percentage of ninth graders who graduated from high school five years later.
The Cohort Graduation Rate is deemed an Other Academic Indicator (OAI) by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for schools that contain a grade 12 that graduates seniors.
Progress on the Cohort Graduation Rate is indicated by at least 2 percentage points improvement on the four-year Cohort Graduation Rate or at least 3 percentage points on the five-year Cohort Graduation Rate. A four-year rate (or five-year rate) of at least 80 percent also meets the target for the Other Academic Indicator (OAI) at the high school level.
For more information about School Improvement status and federal sanctions, see the Data Sources & Information Guide.