Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 3, March 20, 2025
A. A
cohort of students is all students who entered ninth grade for the first time
in the state of Louisiana in a given academic year.
B. Each cohort of students is tracked for
four years, from entry as first-time ninth graders through four academic years.
Transitional ninth grade students will automatically enter the first-time ninth
grade cohort in the academic year following enrollment in transitional ninth
grade.
C. Students who exit the
Louisiana student information system (SIS) in fewer than four years for
legitimate reasons shall not be included in the cohort graduation rate
calculation.
1. Students shall only be
considered legitimate leavers from a cohort under the following circumstances:
a. transfer from Louisiana K-12 public
education to another diploma-awarding school or program;
b. emigration to another country;
or
2. Specific documentation is required for
students to be considered legitimate leavers as follows:
a. Transfer out of state or country shall
require a request for records from the receiving out-of-state school, a
statement written and signed by the parent/guardian, or proof of enrollment as
a foreign exchange student.
b.
Transfer to an approved nonpublic school which awards high school diplomas
shall require a request for records from the receiving nonpublic school or a
statement written and signed by the parent/guardian.
c. Transfer to an early college admissions
program in accordance with LAC 28:LCXV.2329 shall require submission of a
school withdrawal form, request for records from the college or university, and
verification of full-time enrollment in an academic program.
d. The only acceptable documentation for
transfers to out-of-state or approved nonpublic diploma-awarding schools is a
request from the qualifying school or program, a letter from an official in the
receiving school or program verifying student enrollment, or a note written and
signed by the parent/guardian including a reason for exit that confirms the
exit type used to remove the student from enrollment.
e. Documentation for a student transfer to
home school is an official approval document from LDOE dated before October 1
following the student exit from the Louisiana SIS except where the student is
not yet in the final school year of the cohort for on-time
graduation.
f. In the final year of
the cohort for on-time graduation, documentation for a student transfer to home
school is an official approval document from LDOE dated before October 1 of the
beginning of the school year in which the cohort is scheduled to
graduate.
g. Emigration to another
country must be documented with a statement signed by a parent/guardian, a
request for student records, or an approved application for participation in a
foreign exchange program which verifies dates of enrollment.
h. Sufficient documentation for a deceased
student is an obituary or letter from the parent/guardian.
3. The LDOE shall maintain and post on the
department website a list of schools that are considered non-diploma
awarding.
4. A school is classified
as non-diploma awarding when the school:
a.
awards fewer than five regular diplomas per academic year for two consecutive
years; or
b. enrolls fewer than ten
twelfth grade students for a full academic year for two consecutive
years.
c. The LDOE may grant
exceptions to this requirement for new schools and schools with small
populations upon district request when the department has determined that no
circumvention of accountability consequences will occur. The district is
responsible for providing any data requested by the LDOE.
D. A student exited from a school
or LEA using a code other than legitimate leaver codes or those codes
indicating completion of a high school course of study must subsequently appear
in the Louisiana SIS or the student shall be considered a dropout from the
state, LEA, and school.
E. Students
with no high school records in the Louisiana SIS who transfer from a home
school, nonpublic school, or another state into a Louisiana school on or before
October 1 of the eleventh grade year will enter the on-time cohort at the
assigned grade level of the student. Students with existing Louisiana public
high school records will re-enter the original cohort.
F. Students transferring within the Louisiana
public school system will remain in the same cohort.
1. Students transferring within an LEA on or
before October 1 of the cohort fourth year will be included in the calculation
of the graduation indicator at the school into which the student transferred
and completed the fourth year of high school.
2. Students who exit a high school for more
than 45 calendar days during the fourth year shall not be included in the high
school graduation cohort calculation for that school.
G. Students who graduate or complete high
school in fewer than four years will be included in the cohort in which the
student entered ninth grade.
H. A
student who exits K-12 education to enter a school or program that does not
award a state-recognized high school diploma shall be considered a dropout in
graduation cohort calculations.
I.
For students who exit and have no subsequent enrollment in a school, the school
of last record will be the school that sent a valid request for student records
to the school that applied the exit code.
1.
If the last exit from enrollment is for expulsion, exit code 01, the request
for records will not be used to determine the last school of record. The last
school of enrollment shall be used.
J. All students, excluding those defined as
legitimate leavers in Subsection C of this Section, regardless of entry or exit
dates, are included in the state-level cohort.
K. A student assessed using the LEAP Connect
shall be included in the graduation rate calculation for the year in which the
student graduates or the year in which the student exits after at least four
years in high school with no subsequent re-enrollment by October 1 of the
following academic year. A student who is not exited will be counted in the
year that the student reaches the age of twenty-two.
L. Record Maintenance. Schools shall maintain
documentation that supports exit codes for at least four years after the data
has been used in school performance scores.
1. Schools without sufficient documentation
to support exit codes are subject to action by LDOE in accordance with Chapter
41 of this Part.
2. The
authenticity of exit code documentation is determined by the
LDOE.
AUTHORITY
NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
17:6,
R.S.
17:6.1, and
R.S.
17:10.1.
