Why Iowa's graduation rate is so much higher than California's
California’s high school graduation rate has improved in the last five years, moving from 74.7% in 2010 to 81% in 2013-14. According to data released Monday, California is one of 36 states that improved their graduation rates between 2012-13 and 2013-14.
But California high schools still have a long way to go before they match Iowa, which led the country with a 90.5% graduation rate in 2013-14.
There are a few differences that explain the gap.
One reason is simple: money.
The top 10-15 states on the list, he said, spend the most on education — so it would make sense that more of their students graduate. “They tend to be states with low levels of poverty and lower levels of English learners,” said John Rogers, education professor and director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access.
But that doesn’t explain everything, because California also lags behind Texas, a state with a high number of English learners which achieved an 88.3% graduation rate. And the difference in spending per pupil between Iowa and California was just over $1,100 in fiscal year 2013, according to census data.
Some states have been able to better integrate immigrant students — particularly those who move to the U.S. later in their lives — into K-12 classrooms and help them reach college, Rogers said. California schools face several barriers to helping those students as effectively as other states.
For example, California has consistently had one of the highest ratios of students to teachers, particularly at the high school level. And with crowded classrooms, students get less individualized instruction. “With smaller classrooms, there’s more opportunities to interact and use their language,” he said. “You would want to have Why Iowa's graduation rate is so much higher than California's - LA Times:
