Rochester, MN – Today, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) released the class of 2023’s graduation rate data. Mirroring school districts across the state, Rochester Public Schools’ (RPS) graduation rate decreased by 1.91 percentage points from the previous year. In 2023, RPS’ graduation rate was 83.99% compared to the statewide graduation rate of 83.3%. In 2022, RPS’ graduation rate was 85.9% compared to the statewide graduation rate of 83.6%.
“Academic success is the top priority of the District,” said Superintendent Dr. Kent Pekel. “Last year, we had very significant positive gains in our high school graduation rates. This year, we've seen some movement in the other direction. When we see changes in our data from one year to the next, we need to remember that school improvement is a marathon and not a sprint. What really matters is the long-term trend, and I am confident that RPS is headed in the right direction. That will show in our data over time. We will dig into this data in the weeks and months ahead and further strengthen our support for students.”
RPS saw an increase in graduation rates for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students (66.67 percentage points) and white students (1 percentage point). RPS saw a decrease in graduation rates for Asian students (6.92 percentage points), Black or African American students (10.35 percentage points), Hispanic or Latino students (5.89 percentage points), American Indian students (10 percentage points), and Multi Lingual Learner students (3 percentage points).
RPS has in place several key initiatives in our strategic plan that are focused on long-term improvement to better support our students, including the work in structured literacy through our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and personalized learning plans and supports as part of our post-secondary strategy for our students. MTSS is an educational framework that provides personalized interventions for students based on their unique needs. It involves a tiered approach where students receive varying levels of support, with the goal of improving outcomes for all learners. Additional items of focus to help students academically include:
Establishing an early warning system to identify students who need interventions.
Changing our school counseling model.
The work we are doing around belonging, behavior, and restorative practices, which focuses on making our schools places where students want to be.
The new Caregiver and Parent Empowerment (CAPE) program that RPS has developed to help empower parents and caregivers within the district. Part of this program works to educate parents/caregivers on what is needed for their students to graduate.
“It’s critical to note that the vast majority of the students who didn’t graduate on time in the class of 2023 are still enrolled in RPS, and we are going to do everything possible to help them earn their high school diplomas and move on to postsecondary education or a career,” says Pekel.
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