
The Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors adopted a strategic plan with four broad goals. The first goal addresses academic excellence, and a component of this goal tasks Tacoma schools to improve graduation rates.
Specifically the board wants to see improvement in these four areas:
- % of students graduating on time
- % of students graduating –extended time
- % of students dropping out
- % of students re-enrolled from drop out
Strategies that work
Our high schools have adopted strategies to assist students who are struggling to meet new rigorous state standards known as the Common Core State Standards. In fact, Tacoma’s graduation rates have already improved thanks to increased time for tutoring and instruction, seminar/study periods, communicating and working with families and community partners, and new data tracking and analysis systems.
A large contingent of community partners – known as Graduate Tacoma – along with Tacoma Public Schools set a goal of an 85% graduation rate by 2020 – a goal we reached four years early in 2016.
Hitting our goal, four years early
Tacoma’s graduation rate for 2018 reached 89.3 percent – the highest since the state began officially tracking the statistic in 2003, according to data submitted to the state by Tacoma Public Schools. Learn more...
Legacy reports
Our current reports show data from the 2018 school year and beyond using improved reporting tools. Legacy reports show older data using older tools.