A new report from the U.S. Department of Education offers a look at the educational progress through 2013 of students who entered the ninth grade in 2009.
The data show that 83.2 percent of Black ninth graders in 2009 had obtained a high school diploma by 2013. Nearly 96 percent of Asian American ninth graders in 2009 had graduated from high school by 2013. For non-Hispanic Whites, the comparable figure was 91.6 percent.
The data shows that 4.5 percent of Black ninth graders has earned a GED or other high school diploma equivalent by 2013 but that 5.4 percent were still enrolled in high school.
The report also shows that Black ninth graders in 2009 had a mean grade point average during their high school years of 2.3. For non-Hispanic Whites the mean GPA was 2.9.
Some 32.1 percent of Black ninth graders in 2009 were taking postsecondary classes in 2013. This was slightly lower than the 36.2 percent of White ninth graders in 2009 who were taking postsecondary classes n 2013. Some 6.6 percent of Black ninth graders in 2009 were neither taking classes or held a job in 2013. For non-Hispanic White ninth graders in 2009, 3.8 percent were not in school and were not working.
The full report, High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) 2013 Update and High School Transcript Study: A First Look at Fall 2009 Ninth-Graders in 2013, may be downloaded by clicking here.
