La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § XI-1709

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section XI-1709 - Cohort Graduation Rate Methodology

A. A cohort of students is all students who entered ninth grade for the first time in the state of Louisiana in a given academic year.

B. Each cohort of students is tracked for four years, from entry as first-time ninth graders through four academic years. Transitional ninth grade students will automatically enter the first-time ninth grade cohort in the academic year following enrollment in transitional ninth grade.

C. Students who exit the Louisiana student information system (SIS) in fewer than four years for legitimate reasons shall not be included in the cohort graduation rate calculation.

1. Students shall only be considered legitimate leavers from a cohort under the following circumstances:

a. transfer from Louisiana K-12 public education to another diploma-awarding school or program;

b. emigration to another country; or

c. death.

2. Specific documentation is required for students to be considered legitimate leavers as follows:

a. Transfer out of state or country shall require a request for records from the receiving out-of-state school, a statement written and signed by the parent/guardian, or proof of enrollment as a foreign exchange student.

b. Transfer to an approved nonpublic school which awards high school diplomas shall require a request for records from the receiving nonpublic school or a statement written and signed by the parent/guardian.

c. Transfer to an early college admissions program in accordance with LAC 28:LCXV.2329 shall require submission of a school withdrawal form, request for records from the college or university, and verification of full-time enrollment in an academic program.

d. The only acceptable documentation for transfers to out-of-state or approved nonpublic diploma-awarding schools is a request from the qualifying school or program, a letter from an official in the receiving school or program verifying student enrollment, or a note written and signed by the parent/guardian including a reason for exit that confirms the exit type used to remove the student from enrollment.

e. Documentation for a student transfer to home school is an official approval document from LDOE dated before October 1 following the student exit from the Louisiana SIS except where the student is not yet in the final school year of the cohort for on-time graduation.

f. In the final year of the cohort for on-time graduation, documentation for a student transfer to home school is an official approval document from LDOE dated before October 1 of the beginning of the school year in which the cohort is scheduled to graduate.

g. Emigration to another country must be documented with a statement signed by a parent/guardian, a request for student records, or an approved application for participation in a foreign exchange program which verifies dates of enrollment.

h. Sufficient documentation for a deceased student is an obituary or letter from the parent/guardian.

3. The LDOE shall maintain and post on the department website a list of schools that are considered non-diploma awarding.

4. A school is classified as non-diploma awarding when the school:

a. awards fewer than five regular diplomas per academic year for two consecutive years; or

b. enrolls fewer than ten twelfth grade students for a full academic year for two consecutive years.

c. The LDOE may grant exceptions to this requirement for new schools and schools with small populations upon district request when the department has determined that no circumvention of accountability consequences will occur. The district is responsible for providing any data requested by the LDOE.

D. A student exited from a school or LEA using a code other than legitimate leaver codes or those codes indicating completion of a high school course of study must subsequently appear in the Louisiana SIS or the student shall be considered a dropout from the state, LEA, and school.

E. Students with no high school records in the Louisiana SIS who transfer from a home school, nonpublic school, or another state into a Louisiana school on or before October 1 of the eleventh grade year will enter the on-time cohort at the assigned grade level of the student. Students with existing Louisiana public high school records will re-enter the original cohort.

F. Students transferring within the Louisiana public school system will remain in the same cohort.

1. Students transferring within an LEA on or before October 1 of the cohort fourth year will be included in the calculation of the graduation indicator at the school into which the student transferred and completed the fourth year of high school.

2. Students who exit a high school for more than 45 calendar days during the fourth year shall not be included in the high school graduation cohort calculation for that school.

G. Students who graduate or complete high school in fewer than four years will be included in the cohort in which the student entered ninth grade.

H. A student who exits K-12 education to enter a school or program that does not award a state-recognized high school diploma shall be considered a dropout in graduation cohort calculations.

I. For students who exit and have no subsequent enrollment in a school, the school of last record will be the school that sent a valid request for student records to the school that applied the exit code.

1. If the last exit from enrollment is for expulsion, exit code 01, the request for records will not be used to determine the last school of record. The last school of enrollment shall be used.

J. All students, excluding those defined as legitimate leavers in Subsection C of this Section, regardless of entry or exit dates, are included in the state-level cohort.

K. A student assessed using the LEAP Connect shall be included in the graduation rate calculation for the year in which the student graduates or the year in which the student exits after at least four years in high school with no subsequent re-enrollment by October 1 of the following academic year. A student who is not exited will be counted in the year that the student reaches the age of twenty-two.

L. Record Maintenance. Schools shall maintain documentation that supports exit codes for at least four years after the data has been used in school performance scores.

1. Schools without sufficient documentation to support exit codes are subject to action by LDOE in accordance with Chapter 41 of this Part.

2. The authenticity of exit code documentation is determined by the LDOE.

La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § XI-1709

Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LR 501630 (11/1/2024).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:6, R.S. 17:6.1, and R.S. 17:10.1.