Fact Check: MCPS 11th in Graduation Rate in Maryland - But don't compare!

MCPS has asked the Parents' Coalition to correct a previous post. We are more than happy to do so! MCPS wants to make clear that the MCPS ranking in the State of Maryland is 11th out of 24 school districts. 

MCPS' Public Information Office also says it is "neither valid nor fair to compare MCPS" to other Maryland counties.  


We leave that decision up to our readers.


MCPS' Public Information Office doesn't mention that other Maryland counties ARE on the Education Week ranking. For example, according to the State of Maryland, Anne Arundel County has a graduation rate of 90.6 and is ranked at 7th in Maryland.  


However, on the Education Week ranking Anne Arundel County is shown as having a graduation rate of 75.2 and is ranked 7th after MCPS.  Here is more on the Education Week ranking from The Baltimore Sun.

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On June 9, 2010, the MCPS Public Information Office put out a press release that had the following title:  

MCPS is Number One in High School Graduation Rate 

What did that title really mean? 

The MCPS headline was based on an Education Week report that ranked the 50 largest public school systems in the country based on 2007 numbers.  The press release for the Education Week report started out like this:

Progress on Graduation Rate Stalls

1.3 Million Students Fail to Earn Diplomas

Report Identifies Epicenters of the Dropout Crisis;

Examines Data-Driven Strategies to Boost Graduation

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2010—A new national report from Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center finds that the nation’s graduation rate has dropped for the second consecutive year, following a decade of mostly solid improvements. Although the latest decrease is considerably smaller than that found the previous year, the report shows that, on a national scale, 11,000 fewer students will earn diplomas. These new findings raise cause for concern, as those who fail to finish high school will face far greater hardships than their graduating peers, particularly during a period of economic instability...

Meanwhile here in Maryland - MCPS' graduation rate was 11th out of 24 public school systems in 2009 based on information released by the Maryland State Department of Education.  


MCPS Graduation Rate 2009