North High: Do improved graduation rates mean more high schoolers prepared for college?

Even though Denver public schools are out for the summer and most graduation ceremonies are over, the debate over DPS's increasing graduation rates continues. For more, read our feature, "Passing on Education." Today, Education News Colorado contributor Alexander Ooms weighs in with an opinion piece that includes two helpful charts...

By Melanie Asmar

June 6, 2011

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Even though Denver public schools are out for the summer and most graduation ceremonies are over, the debate over DPS's increasing graduation rates continues. For more, read our feature, "Passing on Education." Today, Education News Colorado contributor Alexander Ooms weighs in with an opinion piece that includes two helpful charts that show the relationship between graduation rates and test scores.

The charts suggest that high graduation rates don't always mean high test scores. In other words, even though a school may be graduating most of its seniors, that's no guarantee those seniors have the academic skills necessary to succeed in college or the workplace.

The school with the biggest discrepancy between graduation rate and test scores? Bruce Randolph, once lauded by President Obama but recently criticized by education author Diane Ravitch for, in her words, inflating its success. The school with the second-biggest discrepancy was North High, the subject of our feature.

Did those discrepancies grow or shrink this year? We may have to wait until college remediation rates -- the number of DPS grads who must take high school-level remedial courses in college before they can start earning college credit -- can tell the whole story.

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Melanie Asmar is a staff writer for Westword. She joined the paper in 2009 and has won awards for her stories about education, immigration and epic legal battles. Got a tip? She'd love to hear it.

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