Data released yesterday revealed that the U.S. set a record once again for the number of high school students graduating on time; the data also revealed progress is being made in narrowing the achievement gap as a record-number of minority students graduated on time as well. 

"U.S. students are graduating from high school at a higher rate than ever before, according to data released today by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. The nation's high school graduation rate hit 82 percent in 2013-14, the highest level since states adopted a new uniform way of calculating graduation rates five years ago,” said the Department of Education in a statement.

Both soon-to-be-retired Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his soon-to-be replacement John King spoke on the subject.

Duncan talked about the promising gains being made for all students, particularly for students of color- something that he helped achieve during his time in office.

"The hard work of teachers, administrators, students and their families has made these gains possible and as a result many more students will have a better chance of going to college, getting a good job, owning their own home, and supporting a family. We can take pride as a nation in knowing that we're seeing promising gains, including for students of color,” Duncan said in the DOE’s statement.

King followed up with encouraging words of his own but discussed his commitment to closing the gaps that still exist in schools and communities across the country.

"It is encouraging to see our graduation rate on the rise and I applaud the hard work we know it takes to see this increase. But too many students never get their diploma, never walk across the graduation stage and while our dropout numbers are also decreasing, we remain committed to urgently closing the gaps that still exist in too many schools and in too many communities,” King said as he gears up to fill-in Duncan’s shoes.

Read the full story and see the graduation rate data in its entirety here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

12/16/2015