State’s education rate near average

Terry Webster

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

A new Census Bureau report shows Nevada's high school graduation rate isn't as dismal as other reports have shown -- for residents 25 and older.

According to the study, 82.8 percent of all Nevadans over age 25 have earned a high school diploma, ranking the state 37th in the nation.

The rate declined about 4 percentage points from the 1999 graduation rate of 86.4 percent.

Nationally, about 84 percent of Americans had earned a high school diploma, compared with 79.4 percent eight years ago, the census report says.

The number of Nevadans who hold at least a bachelor's degree decreased from 20.2 percent to 19.3 percent, but the state was not at the bottom of that list either. It ranked 45th.

The Clark County School District cautioned that census study is not an accurate reflection of the school district.

"This is so far beyond us," district spokeswoman Mary Stanley-Larsen said. "There are people moving here from all over the country, and that affects the number of people who have high school diplomas. This doesn't necessarily indicate anything that we have done or haven't done. But we are continuing to do everything we can to help students graduate."

In 1998-99, the district posted a 70.1 percent graduation rate. Figures for the 1999-2000 school year are still being compiled, Stanley-Larsen said.

School officials also say dropout rates are improving despite national reports that rank Nevada as the worst in the nation.

From 1997 to 1998, the district reported its dropout rate declined from 11.8 percent to 9 percent.

Part of that decline was attributed to a change in the way Nevada reports dropout rates. For example, students who pass the General Educational Development exam or who are enrolled in an adult-education program are no longer counted as dropouts.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation in June announced that Nevada has the highest dropout rate in the nation.

School officials disputed those numbers, citing differences in the way the state and the foundation calculate dropout rates.

Superintendent Carlos Garcia could not be reached for comment this morning.