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TIG will be updating the self-advocacy suite.  Please note the resources may be discontinued after the 2023-2024 academic year.

Indicator 1

The Percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma. 

Defining a Graduate

  • a student who has met the requirements established by a school board for a prescribed course of study.
  • Regular diploma requirements-same for students with disabilities as students without disabilities.

DPI analyzes trend data over a three-year period to identify districts for improvement.

It is important to understand state and district data around graduation rates in order to improve student outcomes.  Indicator 1 data can be viewed on the DPI Public Portal as well as on the individual district WISE Dash 2.0 secure home. Note that the Public Portal redacts all identifying student information as well as information if there is a cell size of 5 or less.

Suggested trends in graduation rate information to view

  • Suggested 5 years of Graduation Data
  • Comparison of SwD and SwoD
  • Comparison of students by race

In reviewing this data, consider the following trend data

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Graduation Rate by Disability Status, 5 Year Trend Data-Although graduation from high school in four years is the goal, both state and federal laws allow extra time in school for students with and without identified disabilities to complete their high school education if needed. For students with a disability, this should be an IEP team decision and specific to each student. Wisconsin continues to see a gap between students without disabilities and students with disabilities graduating within 4 years. The 2018-2019 publicly reported data demonstrates a 23% disparity.

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Graduation Rate by Race, 5 Year Trend Data-While the state’s overall graduation rate ranks near the top nationally, that is not the case for all racial subgroups. In fact, for 2013-2017,  the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) found Wisconsin to have the largest gap between white and black students in terms of Graduation Rate (the top in the nation). In Wisconsin we continue to see large disparity between white students and their black, Hispanic, and American Indian peers, with a 28.9% disparity, a 15.4% disparity, and a 14.8% disparity respectively.

To learn more about evidence-based practices that increase graduation rates, please visit the Graduation Rate Improvement Plan: Research Support and Resources.

Make Informed Decisions to Increase Graduation Outcomes

The use of data allows district teams to make informed decisions about the interventions that can help to increase graduation outcomes for subgroups of students within their district. Get more information about Indicator 1 from your local TIG coordinator.