SAN BERNARDINO—Graduation rates among high school seniors throughout San Bernardino County increased by 3.5 percent in the 2010-11 academic year, the California Department of Education announced this week.
While the 74 percent graduation rate in San Bernardino County trailed the statewide average of 76.3 percent, the graduation rates among Hispanic and African- American students were higher in San Bernardino County than statewide averages.
The Department of Education’s figures did not include statistics from the just-concluded 2011-12 academic year, making those for 2010-11 the most recently available. According to the data, the county’s overall graduation rate, which stood at 71.5 percent in 2009-10, advanced 3.5 percent to 74 percent in 2010-11. In comparison, the state averaged 74.8 percent graduates in 2009-10 and saw a 1.5 percent improvement to 76.3 percent in 2010-11.
The graduation rates for African-American high school students in San Bernardino County jumped significantly between 2009-10 and 2010-11, rising 6.5 percent from 60.5 percent to 67 percent, putting them at 4.1 percent above average for all black students in California.
Hispanic students in San Bernardino County also made significant strides in fulfilling educational goals. In San Bernardino County, Latino students bettered the graduation rate for Hispanic students statewide, posting an average of 71.4 percent, which eclipsed the California average of 70.4 percent.
The graduation rate for Caucasians in San Bernardino County was 81 percent in 2010-11, an improvement of 3.7 percent over the 77.3 percent recorded in 2009-10, but nevertheless behind the state average of 85.5 percent.
San Bernardino County’s statistics with regard to the converse of graduation, i.e., dropout frequency, also showed an improvement.
The dropout rates for the county’s black students dropped 5.5 percent to 20.2 percent, encouragingly under the state average of 24.7 percent.
The Hispanic student dropout rate in the county was 17 percent, which was 0.7 percent lower than the statewide trend.
The dropout rate for white students fell from 14.8 percent in 2009-10 to 10.7 percent, an improvement but still an unfavorable comparison to the overall state rate of 8.9 percent for 2010-11.
Among county students for whom English is a second language, graduation rates improved 2.5 percent to 60 percent, putting the county just off the state average of 60.3 percent. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students in San Bernardino County who graduated increased 4.6 percent from 65 percent in 2009-10 to a graduation rate of 69.6 percent in 2010-11, just behind the rest of the state, which averaged 70 percent.