Since 2010, the national graduation rates in US schools have continued to improve. The state of South Dakota in its entirety beats the national average by some tenths.
In 2017, it was reported that graduation rates improved greatly in Sioux Falls in the last school year. The public schools in the city experienced a 3.3% increase, a much higher rate than their statewide counterparts.
According to the report card released by the State Education Department, factors such as subject proficiency, attendance level, and family income levels are contributory factors to the variations in the performance of different students.
There is a major reason why graduation rates of students in South Dakota are generally better than the US average. This is as a result of no other than going far and beyond in spite of all odds.
The Introduction Of The Credit Recovery Privileges And Its Expansion
In the past, less attention is paid to helping students with credit recovery methods. More attention is now focused in this direction to help students with their graduation chances within the four year period for a high school diploma.
Credit recovery approaches are methods to help students earn high school credit units required for graduation. It thus helps students to make another attempt at previously failed courses which may be as a result of absence from school, inability to understand the course content, among other factors.
For South Dakota, various credit recovery opportunities including providing summer lessons, after or before school classes, and other alternative means like the online channel can be the game changer.
The visible leap of South Dakota’s graduation rate to rise above the national average partly results from more attention being given to various methods of credit recovery.
The Impact Of The Enacted Act
The No Child Left Behind Act that was enacted to make sure all students graduate is also a good reason why students in South Dakota have a higher graduation rate than the US average.
Stronger efforts are exercised by teachers to meet this goal by increasing their input in the school.