High school graduation rates are up — but not everywhere

Driving the news: 86.6% of U.S. high schoolers graduated on time in spring 2022, up from 79% in 2011.

• That's according to a report from the GRAD Partnership, a group of nine education organizations.

How it works: The report is based on Department of Education data and examines the adjusted cohort graduation rate.

• Essentially, that's the percentage of high school freshmen who graduate within four years; the rate has been collected since the 2010-11 school year.

Zoom in: Some states saw remarkable progress: 91.2% of West Virginia high schoolers graduated on time in 2022, up 14.7 percentage points from 2011.

Yes, but: A handful are backsliding: Only 77.3% of Arizona high schoolers graduated on time in 2022, for instance, down 0.6 percentage points from 2011.

• There's evidence of at least a temporary blip around the pandemic: "In 2020, there were 10 states with graduation rates of 90% or higher, but only five in 2022," per the report.

Between the lines: From 2011 to 2022, the nationwide growth rates for Black students (+14.1 percentage points), Hispanic students (+11.8), and Native American students (+6.7) all outpaced that of white students (+5.9).

• There's also been progress for low-income students (+11.4), English learners (+15.1), and students with disabilities (+12.3).

Caveat: Graduation rates are only one measure of educational success, and may not account for differing standards or policies between states.

• Case in point: "Many states, districts, and schools waived some high school graduation requirements or eased academic pressures on students during the pandemic," as the report points out.

What's next: It's still too early to tell whether remote learning and social distancing will hurt the long-term success of students who spent their pandemic years in elementary school, the report warns.