When the Department of Education released its 2009 graduation statistics last week, headlines and press releases touted a record-breaking 63 percent graduation rate. However, they failed to address the fact that only one in four students with special needs graduates within four years.

Local advocacy group ARiSE Coalition(Advocates for Children is a member) released a statement today positing that this "deeply disturbing fact" is one of many that hasn't been reported. "The DOE must share information for all students, including those with the most profound disabilities, regarding graduation rates broken down by the type of diplomas received (IEP, local, Regents, or Advanced Regents)," states ARiSE.

The information released by the DOE does not include data for students with disabilities that are measured by "alternate assessments" -- using non-traditional approaches to judge student performance. Statistics from District 75 schools, which serve students with the most severe disabilities, are also poorly reported, as they are lumped in with data from local schools, according to ARiSE.

Graduation rates for students with special needs are improving -- from 17 percent in 2005 to 25 percent in 2009 (see below), but advocates claim that celebrating this incremental increase detracts from the bigger issue. "Even if it represents a minute improvement over the cohort from the previous year, 1 in 4 is an abysmal statistic," states ARiSE.

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