High school graduation rates reported by some Missouri schools, as well as the statewide rates reported to the federal government by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), are unreliable and inaccurate

State and federal laws require Missouri schools to report high school graduation rates each year. Because this information is relied on by parents, educators and policy makers, this audit reviewed whether reported graduation rates were accurate and reliable.

DESE calculated high school graduation rates based on inaccurate data reported by schools

DESE used data reported by schools to calculate 2004 high school graduation rates for local and national reporting purposes. However, that information did not include data on approximately 19,000 of the 75,000 students who started ninth grade four years earlier. (See page 7)

Schools had incorrectly classified students as transfers or did not retain proper documentation

Our review of transfer records at 11 schools disclosed student departures had not been properly documented and/or classified. Our review of school records for the 2,653 students classified as transfers showed transcript request forms were on file for 57 percent of those students; however, these schools had no documentation available for 11 percent of the students. While school personnel had notations indicating the school where another 29 percent of the students had transferred, no transfer request forms had been received and/or retained. Documentation showed the remaining 3 percent of the students had dropped out instead of transferred. (See page 7)

Noncompliance with record retention requirements contributes to problem

Discussions with school personnel at the 11 schools disclosed personnel at only 1 school had been aware of record retention requirements. One school, due to decreased storage space, shredded all transfer records except for those from the 2004 school year. Another school stored all transfer records for each year in separate boxes, however boxes from school years 2000 through 2003 could not be located for our review. None of the schools could locate all transcript requests for students that exited the school prior to graduation. (See page 8)

New system under development could help schools track students

Missouri is currently developing the Missouri Student Information System (MOSIS) to help local schools and districts track individual students for testing purposes. Once installed in all of the Missouri public schools it will have the capability to track and identify students in pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. This system should also allow DESE to verify high school graduation rates calculated by individual schools and to more accurately report statewide high school graduation rates in compliance with federal law. DESE has not developed a plan to fully implement the MOSIS and does not anticipate fully implementing the student tracking capabilities until 2008. (See page 8)