ESEA
Under ESEA, States and LEAs must calculate and report on its annual report card a four year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR), disaggregated by subgroups.
For its statewide accountability system under Title I, States must establish ambitious State-determined long-term goals, and measures of interim progress toward meeting the goals, for all students and for each subgroup of students for indicators including high school graduation rates.
For its statewide accountability system under Title I, States must establish ambitious State-determined long-term goals, and measures of interim progress toward meeting the goals, for all students and for each subgroup of students for indicators including high school graduation rates.
ESSA High School Graduation Rate Non-Regulatory Guidance (January 2017)
ESEA Section 1111(a) and (h) include the requirement for the annual report card and state goals and measures.
ESEA section 8101(23), (25), and (43) include the requirements for calculating and reporting high school graduation rates.
ESEA Section 1111(a) and (h) include the requirement for the annual report card and state goals and measures.
ESEA section 8101(23), (25), and (43) include the requirements for calculating and reporting high school graduation rates.
FDOE Documents
2023-2024 Graduation Rate - January 2025
2023-2024 Cohort Graduation Rate Using Federal Guidelines
2022-2023 Information Guide for the 4-Year Graduation Rate Cohort - January 2024
2022-2023 Dropout Rate - January 2024
2021-2022 Graduation Rate - January 2023
Historical Graduation Rate Information - 1975-2024
2023-2024 Cohort Graduation Rate Using Federal Guidelines
2022-2023 Information Guide for the 4-Year Graduation Rate Cohort - January 2024
2022-2023 Dropout Rate - January 2024
2021-2022 Graduation Rate - January 2023
Historical Graduation Rate Information - 1975-2024
What else?
Where can I find a complete list of the withdrawal and diploma codes used in Florida?
- Appendices A and B in the Database Manuals for the Automated Student Database System define all the withdrawal and diploma codes.
If a dropout re-enrolls in another high school, how is this student counted in the four-year graduation rate?
- The goal of the cohort graduation rate is to determine the final educational outcome for all students during the four-year window. So, for graduation rate purposes, a prior dropout should be updated by the district to a transfer, if the student is later found enrolled in another school.
Does the FDOE require evidence of withdrawal codes?
The handbook further stipulates:
2. A request for the student’s school record is received from a public or private school, in-or out-of-state, in which the student is enrolled or plans to enroll;
3. The student has been transferred within the school or district by school officials;
4. The student has been promoted, graduated, has earned a certificate of completion or special certificate of completion, or holds a valid certificate of exemption from the superintendent as provided under section 1003.21(3), Florida Statutes;
5. The student has died;
6. A student formally terminates school enrollment and the school satisfies the requirements of section 1003.21(1)(c), Florida Statutes. This should include information to the student related to driving privileges, CINS/FINS (Child-in-Need-of-Services/Families-in-Need-of-Services) providers, and the Learnfare Program; or
7. A school executes and documents that the requirements of sections 1003.26 and 1003.27, Florida Statutes, have been attempted in good faith and that the student left school voluntarily with no intention of returning or that the student’s whereabouts cannot be determined.
A school is not authorized to withdraw a student from enrollment due to nonattendance as long as the student attends school, even if the student attends sporadically. A student may only be withdrawn from school due to nonattendance (W15) or withdrawn from school due to whereabouts unknown (W22) after all procedures outlined in sections 1003.26 and 1003.27, Florida Statues, have been followed. Withdrawal due to other reasons (W23) should not be used unless all other avenues have been exhausted and the district specifically approves its use.
8. At the end of the school year, appropriate withdrawal codes must be recorded on the day after the last day of school for all students who are in membership on the last day of the regular 180-day school year. On the day after the last day of summer school, the appropriate withdrawal code must also be assigned to all students who are in membership on the last day of summer school.
For those students for whom requests for records are received over the summer or during the break prior to the beginning of the next regular school year, changes should be made in the withdrawal codes that will be part of the normal process for withdrawing students. Those withdrawals should be entered on the day following the last day of the school year or summer school, whichever is appropriate.
- Districts must ensure they have proper documentation, such as a records request, before finalizing any withdrawal codes that would transfer a student out of the cohort, per the guidelines in the Automated Student Attendance Recordkeeping System Handbook:
- "Each district shall maintain attendance, absence, and withdrawal information on students enrolled in the district and be able to prepare, upon request, a record of each student’s entry, reentry, and withdrawal dates as well as that student’s present and absent days."
The handbook further stipulates:
- A withdrawal is official when one or more of the following occurs:
2. A request for the student’s school record is received from a public or private school, in-or out-of-state, in which the student is enrolled or plans to enroll;
3. The student has been transferred within the school or district by school officials;
4. The student has been promoted, graduated, has earned a certificate of completion or special certificate of completion, or holds a valid certificate of exemption from the superintendent as provided under section 1003.21(3), Florida Statutes;
5. The student has died;
6. A student formally terminates school enrollment and the school satisfies the requirements of section 1003.21(1)(c), Florida Statutes. This should include information to the student related to driving privileges, CINS/FINS (Child-in-Need-of-Services/Families-in-Need-of-Services) providers, and the Learnfare Program; or
7. A school executes and documents that the requirements of sections 1003.26 and 1003.27, Florida Statutes, have been attempted in good faith and that the student left school voluntarily with no intention of returning or that the student’s whereabouts cannot be determined.
A school is not authorized to withdraw a student from enrollment due to nonattendance as long as the student attends school, even if the student attends sporadically. A student may only be withdrawn from school due to nonattendance (W15) or withdrawn from school due to whereabouts unknown (W22) after all procedures outlined in sections 1003.26 and 1003.27, Florida Statues, have been followed. Withdrawal due to other reasons (W23) should not be used unless all other avenues have been exhausted and the district specifically approves its use.
8. At the end of the school year, appropriate withdrawal codes must be recorded on the day after the last day of school for all students who are in membership on the last day of the regular 180-day school year. On the day after the last day of summer school, the appropriate withdrawal code must also be assigned to all students who are in membership on the last day of summer school.
For those students for whom requests for records are received over the summer or during the break prior to the beginning of the next regular school year, changes should be made in the withdrawal codes that will be part of the normal process for withdrawing students. Those withdrawals should be entered on the day following the last day of the school year or summer school, whichever is appropriate.