Welcome to Wake Education Partnership!

• Advisory Councils
• Presentations
• Education websites

"Thank you for all of the effort put into yesterday's forum all the way down to the wonderful hand outs. We are truly appreciative for all you have done and continue to do in supporting our group's efforts. It is making a difference in the lives of the children." Catherine Dameron Knightdale 100 Knightdale               "I just wanted to say thank you for last night's presentation at JY Joyner. The slides and discussion clarified the issues for me and definitely made me more aware of what we are all dealing with, particularly the different perspectives." Elisabeth McMahon Parent JY Joyner Elementary

High School Performance

Even though high schools offer a wide range of classes to an even wider range of students, the schools are usually measured on just a handful of standards. While that often seems unfair to teachers and administrators, it makes sense in the big picture.

The public rightfully expects high schools to graduate students ready to attend college or move directly into the world of work. The basic indicators in the following pages offer a snapshot of how Wake County’s public high schools stack up in that regard.

Here is a brief summary of what each indicator measures in the charts and graphs that follow:

• SAT scores: One of the best known high school standards – and one of the only high school standards throughout the 1980s and early 1990s – SAT scores are now broken into three categories rather than the two subjects of math and verbal as in years past. Typically, higher participation rates tend to reduce scores so you want to see schools with large percentages in both columns. Wake has consistently scored above state and national averages, but that standard is not a difficult one to meet.
• 9th grade promotion rate: Unlike some indicators, this one really is self-explanatory. It is a standard that started receiving more attention when public attention shifted to decreasing the number of dropouts. Most dropouts leave school between the freshman and sophomore year right after they turn 16.
• Overall dropout rate: This is an annual rate only and was often the only rate that schools reported. It sounds better to say a school has a dropout rate of only 4 percent than it does to address the bigger question of how many freshmen eventually graduate. While the annual rate is usually a small number, it can jump around from year to year in any given school because it is based on a relatively small number of students.
• 4-year cohort graduation rate: This is the rate that the public typically thinks of when it hears the term “dropout rate.” The rate represents the percentage of incoming freshmen in any given year who go on to graduate four years later. It is not a particularly precise number as students leave schools for all sorts of reasons. In some cases it is clear the student has simply moved to another school. In other cases it isn’t clear at all what happened to the child. Schools have discretion in deciding how to classify that student’s departure and the decision has a direct effect on the cohort graduation rate.
• 2- & 4-year college going rate: This figure is based on information provided by graduates about their intentions. It is generally accurate but probably a bit inflated because students who change plans after graduation typically forgo college for the  workforce rather than deciding at the last minute they are going to attend college after all.

2008-2009 SAT scores by school

 

Click here to see dropout and promotion rates listed by school

Click here to see SAT scores statewide