Ventura County saw improvement in its high school graduation and dropout rates according to data released today by the California Department of Education. The graduation rate for the 2014-15 school year was 84.5 percent, which is up from 82.5 percent in 2012-13. Over the same period, the dropout rate has decreased from 10.6 percent to 8.3 percent.
Ventura County’s graduation rate in 2014-15 exceeded the statewide rate of 82.3 percent. The County also saw a 2014-15 dropout rate that’s better than the state figure of 10.7 percent. Both the Ventura County and statewide graduation rates are record highs in the six year period since the Department of Education changed the method it uses to collect the data. The new method implemented for the 2009-10 school year follows the same groups of students, or cohorts, during the data collection period.
“These increases and improvements attest to the sustained efforts of our students, teachers, administrators, support staff, parents and communities in support of the success of every young person in Ventura County,” said Ventura County Superintendent of School Stan Mantooth. “The leveraging of these collaborations as the future unfolds will ensure that the needle continues moving forward.”
The figures show Ventura County graduation and dropout rates improved in 2014-15 for major subgroups including English learners, special education students and socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
“Our county teachers and administrators have worked hard to provide students with the academic interventions and social emotional supports they need,” said Dr. Valerie Chrisman, VCOE Associate Superintendent for Educational Services. “These results are a demonstration of our educators’ dedication and the sustained efforts of students.”
Highlights and Trends
Enrollment
Overall, Ventura County had a 1 percent drop in enrollment from 2014-15 to 2015-16, from 141,889 to 140,548. There was a 1 percent increase in the number of Hispanic students enrolled in public schools in the county, a 7 percent decline in African American student enrollment, and a 4 percent decline in White student enrollment.
The largest decline in enrollment has been in the elementary grades (K-5), which declined 1.8 percent from 2014-15 to 2015-16.
English Learners
Overall, there has been a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of English Learner students in Ventura County, which outpaces the decrease in overall enrollment. The number of English Learner students whose primary language is Spanish dropped from 31,283 to 30,344, a 3 percent drop. The number of Mixteco-speaking students increased from 799 to 871, a 9 percent increase. Of the major language groups in Ventura County, there was also significant growth in the number of Mandarin speaking students (from 124 to 140, a 13 percent increase) and Farsi speaking students (from 64 to 70, a 9 percent increase).
Ventura County has seen an increase in the number of students who were redesignated to Fluent English Proficient status (FEP) over the past two years. The FEP count looks at the number and percent of students redesignated from EL to FEP from fall of the prior school year to fall of the current school year. From fall 2013-14 to fall 2014-15, 2,651 Ventura County students were redesignated as FEP (7.9 percent); from fall 2014-15 to fall 2015-16, 3,971 students were redesignated as FEP (11.7 percent).
UC/CSU Required Courses
The percentage of students with UC/CSU required courses has remained relatively constant over the past several years in Ventura County, with 36.2 percent meeting so-called A-G requirements in 2012-13, 36.9 percent in 2013-14, and 36.6 percent in 2014-15. Ventura County was below the statewide rate of 43.4 percent of graduates meeting the A-G criteria.
There is an obvious gender gap in meeting A-G requirements with 41 percent of girls meeting this criteria, compared to only 32 percent of boys in 2014-15. A similar discrepancy was seen among 2013-14 Ventura County graduates, and is also seen at the state level.
Cohort Graduates and Dropouts
The cohort graduation rate among Ventura County students has risen steadily over the past three years. Since 2012-13, the cohort graduation rate has risen by two percentage points, from 82.5 percent in 2012-13 to 84.5 percent in 2014-15. Most subgroups have also seen an increase in graduation rates. Changes in graduation rate are shown below.
| |
Cohort Graduation Rate
|
|
Number of Students, 2014/15
|
| |
2012/13
|
2013/14
|
2014/15
|
Change
|
|
|
All Students
|
82.5%
|
83.2%
|
84.5%
|
+ 2.0%
|
|
10755
|
|
Hispanic or Latino of Any Race
|
74.5%
|
76.1%
|
77.9%
|
+ 3.4%
|
|
5388
|
|
Am Ind/Alaska Nat, Not Hispanic
|
81.6%
|
78.7%
|
80.0%
|
- 1.6%
|
|
40
|
|
Asian, Not Hispanic
|
94.8%
|
94.5%
|
94.5%
|
- 0.3%
|
|
513
|
|
Pacific Islander, Not Hispanic
|
71.8%
|
85.7%
|
81.1%
|
+ 9.3%
|
|
37
|
|
Filipino, Not Hispanic
|
95.0%
|
92.7%
|
93.5%
|
- 1.5%
|
|
276
|
|
African American, Not Hispanic
|
81.3%
|
79.9%
|
84.4%
|
+ 3.1%
|
|
211
|
|
White, Not Hispanic
|
89.9%
|
90.6%
|
91.2%
|
+ 1.3%
|
|
4100
|
|
Two or More Races, Not Hispanic
|
87.5%
|
88.7%
|
90.7%
|
+ 3.2%
|
|
183
|
|
English Learners
|
62.4%
|
62.2%
|
67.2%
|
+ 4.8%
|
|
1806
|
|
Migrant Education
|
67.9%
|
71.9%
|
79.3%
|
+ 11.4%
|
|
290
|
|
Special Education
|
68.1%
|
65.5%
|
69.4%
|
+ 1.3%
|
|
1181
|
|
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
|
72.1%
|
74.2%
|
76.7%
|
+ 4.6%
|
|
6025
|
|
Female, All Students
|
84.8%
|
85.2%
|
86.8%
|
+ 2.0%
|
|
5227
|
|
Male, All Students
|
80.3%
|
81.3%
|
82.3%
|
+ 2.0%
|
|
5528
|
| |
Cohort Dropout Rate
|
|
Number of Students, 2014/15
|
| |
2012/13
|
2013/14
|
2014/15
|
|
|
|
All Students
|
10.6%
|
9.3%
|
8.3%
|
- 2.3%
|
|
10755
|
|
Hispanic or Latino of Any Race
|
15.0%
|
12.7%
|
11.2%
|
- 3.8%
|
|
5388
|
|
Am Ind/Alaska Nat, Not Hispanic
|
13.2%
|
10.6%
|
15.0%
|
+ 1.8%
|
|
40
|
|
Asian, Not Hispanic
|
2.9%
|
3.0%
|
3.1%
|
+ 0.2%
|
|
513
|
|
Pacific Islander, Not Hispanic
|
20.5%
|
10.7%
|
5.4%
|
- 15.1%
|
|
37
|
|
Filipino, Not Hispanic
|
3.4%
|
4.8%
|
4.3%
|
+ 0.9%
|
|
276
|
|
African American, Not Hispanic
|
11.3%
|
12.6%
|
11.8%
|
+ 0.5%
|
|
211
|
|
White, Not Hispanic
|
6.6%
|
5.7%
|
5.3%
|
- 1.3%
|
|
4100
|
|
Two or More Races, Not Hispanic
|
7.1%
|
8.6%
|
5.5%
|
- 1.6%
|
|
183
|
|
English Learners
|
22.3%
|
21.4%
|
16.7%
|
- 5.6%
|
|
1806
|
|
Migrant Education
|
19.0%
|
17.2%
|
7.2%
|
- 11.8%
|
|
290
|
|
Special Education
|
14.4%
|
14.3%
|
13.4%
|
- 1.0%
|
|
1181
|
|
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
|
16.4%
|
14.2%
|
12.2%
|
- 4.2%
|
|
6025
|
|
Female, All Students
|
9.0%
|
8.1%
|
6.6%
|
- 2.4%
|
|
5227
|
|
Male, All Students
|
12.1%
|
10.4%
|
10.0%
|
- 2.1%
|
|
5528
|
Additional Information
Graduation and dropout rates at the state, county, district and school levels can be found at the California Department of Education’s DataQuest website.