Rising IPS graduation rates

Indianapolis, Indiana – Over the past two years, graduation rates at Indianapolis Public Schools have been rising consistently.

Some recent initiatives have increased academic standards and teacher assistance.

In contrast to a minor fall in state graduation rates, IPS has consistently increased its graduation rates. The IPS rate rose to 80% in 2022 while the state average decreased to 86.6%.

“Students are monitored through a steady cadence of reports shared with our schools, including freshman and sophomore on-track data along with predictive graduation data,” Smith said. “We are also ramping up rigor using the SAT Suite of Assessments coupled with students’ access to Khan Academy to support their academic and test preparedness. Students are engaging in SAT classroom prompts and SAT boot camps to bolster test scores.”

Other positive data for IPS schools include:

• Graduation rates above 80 percent for seven of district’s 10 high schools, including three of the four direct-managed high school
• Every subgroup achieved a higher graduation rate in 2022 than in 2021.
• English language learners have a graduation rate higher than their statewide peers by a margin of over 5 percentage points.
• Graduation rates for black, Hispanic, Asian students are higher or on par with their statewide peers.
• A decline in the use of waivers, dropping from 4.9% in 2021 to 2.7% in 2022. For IPS’ four academy high schools, the waiver rate dropped to 0.91% overall.
• Five of 10 high schools had 100% of students graduate without using a waiver.