Georgia students outperform national average on ACT

After rising for eight years, Georgia’s high school graduation rate flattened last spring, with the class of 2021 graduating at a marginally lower rate than the class of 2020.

State school Superintendent Richard Woods applauded the 83.7% rate, down from 83.8%, saying schools held their ground despite the extraordinary hardships for teachers and students.

“Given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am pleased to see Georgia’s graduation rate holding steady,” Woods said in a written statement. “Combined with the class of 2021′s increases in ACT and SAT scores, this is an encouraging indicator about the work being done in public schools.”

Georgia calculates a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate as required by federal law. This rate is the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class. From the beginning of ninth grade, students who are entering that grade for the first time form a cohort that is subsequently “adjusted” by adding any students who transfer into the cohort during the next three years and subtracting any students who transfer out. While all states use the same calculation, each state sets its own requirements for students to earn a regular high school diploma. Georgia has some of the highest requirements in the nation for students to graduate with a regular diploma.