Student achievement continues to trend upward, according to the College and Career Readiness Indicators Report for Hawai‘i’s Class of 2017

News Release from Hawaii DoE, 02-Apr-2018

Programs and policies designed to boost student achievement and strengthen successful transitions between high school, college and career are continuing to prove effective, according to the latest College and Career Readiness Indicators Report released by Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education.

More students are graduating high school on time and taking advanced coursework. Photo Credit: Hawai‘i P-20

​Programs and policies designed to boost student achievement and strengthen successful transitions between high school, college and career are continuing to prove effective, according to the latest College and Career Readiness Indicators Report (CCRI), just released by Hawai'i P-20 Partnerships for Education for the Class of 2017. 

The CCRI reports, composed annually by Hawai'i P-20's Data Exchange Partnership, present information on how well-prepared Hawai'i public school graduates are for college, and as in years past, the latest report shows that the collaboration between the University of Hawai'i System (UH) and the Hawai'i State Department of Education (HIDOE) to strengthen the education pipeline is paying off.  Fewer students entering college are enrolling in below-college level courses and more students are enrolling directly into college-level math and English.  Over a six-year period, enrollment in college level English increased from 48 percent to 65 percent, and in college-level math from 29 percent to 39 percent.  These numbers include students who earned college-level credits while still enrolled in high school.

Participation is also on the rise for dual credit, a part of the Early College initiative, which allows high school students to earn both high school and college credits while in high school.  Dual credit participation is up 11 percentage points since the Class of 2012.  Statewide, 17 percent of students in the Class of 2017 enrolled in college courses while in high school, and 8 percent of students earned six or more college credits.  National research and local data has shown that students who participate in dual credit programs are more likely to enroll and persist in college, and these programs are particularly effective for economically disadvantaged students.

"It's evident that many students are raising the bar for themselves and want to enroll in dual credit programs," said Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto. "These opportunities wouldn't be possible without the support of our community and education partners that continue to work alongside us to give our students a head start on their college and career paths."

For more than a decade, UH and HIDOE have collaborated to strengthen alignment between high school and college, so that more students make a successful transition to postsecondary education.  The collaborative efforts have included reviewing and revising placement policies at UH campuses to allow students to be placed into college-level courses based on their achievements in high school, offering dual-credit courses that allow high school students to earn both high school and college credits while in high school, and a number of other efforts designed to boost student achievement and success in higher education.

"They key to continued improvement is having high expectations for our students, and then working together to create policies and programs that manifest those expectations," says Stephen Schatz, Executive Director of Hawai'i P-20 Partnerships for Education. "As an education community, we are all responsible for achieving better outcomes for our students. This data is invaluable as it helps to shine a spotlight on what's working so we can continue and expand efforts in those areas, and also know where we need to improve."

Several schools are spotlighted in the Class of 2017 CCRI for gains made in a number of areas of college and career readiness, including:

Kapa'a High School

• Increased on-time graduation rate to 91% for the Class of 2017 from 80% for the class of 2012
• Leads the state in the number of Career and Technical Education (CTE) concentrators at 73%
• Increased dual credit participation to 31% for the Class of 2017 from 16% for the Class of 2012

Kaua'i High School

• Increased on-time graduation rate to 90% for the Class of 2017 from 82% for the class of 2012
• Increased dual credit participation by 25 percentage points, to 29% from 4% for the Class of 2012
• Increased the number of CTE concentrators to 65% from 49% in the Class of 2014

King Kekaulike High School

• Increased on-time graduation rate to 82% for the Class of 2017 from 73% for the class of 2012
• Increased participation in AP examinations to 52%, from 38% in the Class of 2012

Maui High School

• Leads the state with the highest increase in taking college-level math, to 52% for the Class of 2017 from 14% for the Class of 2012
• Leads the state with the highest increase in college enrollment, to 60% from the class of 2017 from 48% in the Class of 2012
• Increased participation in AP examinations to 37% for the Class of 2017 from 30% for the class of 2012

Nānākuli High and Intermediate School

• Increased on-time graduation rate to 81% for the Class of 2017 from 71% for the class of 2012
• Increased participation in AP examinations to 31%, from 11% in the Class of 2014
• Increased the number of students earning college-level English credit in high school to 15% from 0% in 2012

Wai'anae High School

• Increased on-time graduation rate to 78% for the Class of 2017 from 69% for the Class of 2012
• Increased the number of students earning college-level English credit in high school to 24% from 0% in 2012
• Increased dual credit participation to 30% from 1% in the Class of 2012

Waimea High School

• Increased the number of students earning college-level math credit in high school to 11% for the Class of 2017 from 0% in 2012
• Increased dual credit participation to 29% from 9% in the Class of 2012
• Reduced the number of students not taking math in their first semester of college to 26% in the Class of 2017 from 48% in the Class of 2012

Hawai'i's CCRI reports are continuously recognized by national organizations, including the Data Quality Campaign, Achieve, and the National Governors Association, as a leading example of collaboration between K-12 and higher education and for providing useful information on college readiness.  The full reports can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/hip20ccri17and also at: http://hawaiidxp.org/research/ccri_reports.