Wake sets graduation target

RALEIGH -- The Wake County school board wants every student to be graduating from high school by 2014.

A 100 percent graduation rate is a tall order considering that one-fifth of Wake high school students aren't getting their diplomas now. But school board members agreed to that target Monday as part of an ambitious effort to raise expectations for students.

School administrators didn't say how they would try to reach the new goal. But the board will get a policy next month that could lay out what steps administrators may take to place more resources into some schools.

Wake's graduation rate of 78.8 percent is higher than the state average of 70.2 percent. But the gap has narrowed. Wake's graduation rate was 82.6 percent in 2006.

Still, Education Week said this year that Wake has the sixth-highest graduation rate among the nation's 50 largest school districts.

To get to 100 percent by 2014, Wake would try to raise the graduation rate to 90 percent by 2010 and 95 percent by 2012.

Previously, the board was looking at a goal of having 95 percent of students graduating by 2013. But board members said that having a goal of anything less than 100 percent would give the perception that they were giving up on some students.

"If we have it 95 percent, who are we going to tell that we don't think they can reach the goal?" said Rosa Gill, chairwoman of the school board.

As part of the goal, Wake will also aim to have students showing high academic growth on state exams.

To help measure the progress that Wake is making toward the goal, the district will look at more than 20 measures, including:

* An increase in the percentage of students proficient in the state's math and reading end-of-grade exams in elementary and middle schools.

* An increase in enrollment and proficiency in algebra I in middle school.

* An increase in the number of students enrolling in second languages in elementary, middle and high schools.