Tagged: graduation

Expect traffic congestion around the Frank Erwin Center to pick up over the next couple of days as area schools celebrate high school graduations.

Westlake High School students will get their diplomas at the Erwin Center tonight. Three other high schools have graduations scheduled there on Saturday: Hendrickson High School (9 a.m.), Pflugerville High School (11 a.m.) and Connally High School (1 p.m.).

A new study shows Texas' four-year high school graduation rate rose to 78.9 percent in 2009-2010, putting the Lone Star State above the national average of 78.2 percent.

A federal study released by the National Center of Education Statistics shows that Texas' four-year graduation rate increased from its previous study, from 73.1 percent in the 2006-2007 school year to 78.9 percent in 2009-2010.

On Saturday night, following Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel’s Heisman win, some Aggies got so carried away by their excitement that they saw the man called “Johnny Football” everywhere.

The University of Texas’s December graduation also took place on Saturday.  It’s the university’s tradition to light the clock tower orange, with the windows lit to form the class year of the graduates.  So Saturday night, the clock tower bore a giant 12, in honor of the 2012 graduating class.

With witnesses in a school finance trial testifying daily on the challenges facing public education in the state, and with a chorus of state leaders citing the failings of traditional public schools in calling for reform, some may be surprised to hear that by one measure, Texas schools appear to be doing quite well.

Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Education this week shows that Texas — along with five other states — ranks fourth in the nation for its four-year high school graduation rates. With an overall rate of 86 percent in the 2010-11 school year, the state follows Iowa, with 88 percent, and Wisconsin and Vermont, both at 87 percent.

The University of Texas’ graduation rate is under scrutiny as the school attempts different ways to increase the number of students graduating in four years.

In February a task force assembled by UT President Bill Powers offered 60 suggestions to encourage students to earn their degree more quickly.

In late August and early September, UT began a sort of branding campaign. The number 2016 (signifying the graduation date for incoming freshmen) began to appear all around campus: on shirts, on tote bags, and even on Twitter (as #2016 became a popular hashtag).

High school graduation rates in Texas hit a record high last year, according to a new report by the Texas Education Agency.

Eighty-six percent of the class of 2011 graduated "on-time," a measure that counts ninth graders who graduate within four years. When you expand it to five years, the graduation rate was 92 percent. Hispanics, African-Americans, and white students all posted gains.

However, the speed at which graduation rates are improving slowed. Schools showed a 1.6 percentage gain in the 2011 school year, compared to a 3.7 percent increase the year before. But the Texas Education Agency says it’s not a big concern.