Miranda Rector, who graduated from Venice High School, with LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King at Tuesday’s district graduation ceremony. (Credit: LA Unified Communications and Media Relations)

*UPDATED

Preliminary data show that 74 percent of LA Unified high school seniors met new graduation requirements, the first class required to pass college preparatory classes, the district announced Tuesday.

Superintendent Michelle King made the announcement during a morning ceremony with the school board celebrating Class of 2016 graduates.

“This is the first class that stepped up to meet this challenge,” King said, according to a tweet from the district’s official Twitter account. “They are the pioneers.”

Supt. King said, “This is the first class that stepped up to meet this challenge. They are the pioneers.”

— LAUSD (@LASchools) June 21, 2016

This year marks the first year seniors had to pass A through G standards, a series of courses required for acceptance into California’s public universities, in order to graduate.

In January, the district said just 54 percent of high school seniors were on track to graduate.

At Tuesday’s graduation ceremony, from left, former Laker A.C. Green, Canoga Park High graduate Jeremiah Brown, Washington Preparatory High grad Adonis Warren, Superintendent Michelle King and Laura Adkins, who also graduated from Washington Prep. (Credit: LA Unified Communications and Media Relations)

King called for an “all hands on deck” approach to get students on track to graduate, along with aggressive implementation of a $15 million credit recovery program.

The district will have a graduation rate estimate in late August. The California Department of Education releases the previous year’s official graduate rate each spring.

That graduation rate will include students who dropped out. The 74 percent of students who passed their A-G courses are of students who were enrolled in school. It does not include students who dropped out along the way, officials said.

Last year’s graduation rate was 72 percent when the tougher standards were not required.

• Read more: By the numbers: Did ‘all hands on deck’ save LA Unified’s sinking graduation rate?

*This story has been updated to show that 74 percent is not the graduation rate, but is the percentage of enrolled students who met new graduation requirements to pass college preparatory courses.

LAUSD report on A through G completion rates.

There is a wide gulf of disparity when it comes to the performance of races and subgroups in LA Unified’s A through G completion and graduation rates, but these groups have come a long way and are doing better than ever before.

Recent district reports breaking down the graduation rate as it heads into the final six weeks of the school year show 68 percent of seniors are currently on track to complete their A-G courses with all D’s or better. A-G completion is a key component required for graduation and is being implemented for the first time this year. The courses are required for acceptance into California’s public universities, although C’s are needed to qualify.

Due to a $15 million credit recovery program that has signed up thousands of students to retake courses after school, on weekends and over holiday breaks, the district has predicted the graduation rate could rise as high as a record 80 percent. But peeling back the layers of the 68 percent mark reveals other numbers that are troubling yet familiar, as African-Americans, Latinos, English learners, foster students and students with disabilities are far behind their peers on A-G completion.

“The racial disparities in achievement and discipline have been consistently on the front burner. It means we need more support, it means we need to have more personalization and it means that you can’t just do more of the same,” said board member Monica Garcia, who is a strong advocate for the A-G standards. “I think it is about a system learning how to succeed with all populations, and LA Unified has more to do.”

Despite the disparities, the district has made big strides over the years when it comes to race and subgroup performance. According to a UCLA report from 2013, 21 percent of African-American high school students were on track with A-G courses in 2008, compared to 59 percent today. Latino students had a 24 percent on track rate then, compared to 67 percent today. English learners had an overall 9 percent on track status, compared to 29 percent for long-term learners and 24 percent for short-term learners today.

Asian students and white students, who are outpacing their peers today, have also made significant strides. Asians have gone from 58 percent on track in 2008 to 83 percent today, and white students have gone from 45 percent to 74 percent. Overall the district had made progress in all students who are getting C’s or better in all A-G classes, from 18 percent in 2005 to 48 percent as of March 7.

When asked about the low performance of African-American students on A-G, LA Unified Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson said the district is taking various steps to help those students and new data coming soon will show that more African-American students from LA Unified are getting into college than ever before.

“We are working with UCLA on a really strong collaborative, and we have seen our numbers increase with our connective efforts around culturally proficient teaching and pedagogy. We have also done some partnering with the College Board and our partners at UCLA making sure we are developing that college-going culture,” Gipson said. “This year we have a record number of students getting into UCLA and our historically black colleges. Those numbers should be out soon.”

She added, “We are doing some intentional practice and research and study and learning from what is working best in our field for our learners.”

LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer at a recent board meeting said the district is focused on bringing more equity to all its students.

“I’ve said this before and want to continue to emphasize that we are striving to bridge the education gap between the haves and the have-nots and give every student a path to quality education and graduation. That remains the civil rights struggle of our day,” he said.

The district’s 141,000-plus English learners remain among the biggest challenge when it comes to A-G because some of the courses essentially require English fluency.

“We have seen a lot of autonomy given to local districts and schools to figure [racial disparities] out. The other groups that are really struggling are English learners, they are not even really eligible to take those A-G courses,” said Sara Mooney, an education program associate at United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which has advocated for the district to keep the A-G standards. “There is a big concern, even though there is differentiated instruction and a lot to of autonomy, we really need to see a greater push for some racial equity and some real supports for African-American students and for English learners.”

In fact, the percentage of students maintaining a C or better in college prep or A-G classes has more than doubled in 10 years, according to the latest LA Unified statistics.

In a report presented at a committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson noted that only 18 percent of the students had a C or above in 2005, but in 2015 that number hit 43 percent — a nearly 20 percent jump just from last school year — and this year it is expected to hit 49 percent.

Gipson repeatedly used the phrase “cautious optimism” when discussing the recent numbers with both the school board members and later with LA School Report. She said part of the reason for the new statistics and the optimistic outlook is “an action plan for incredible personalization” that was implemented by new Superintendent Michelle King when she took office last month.

“It was evident from the first week that Michelle King wants all students to be college ready, and that is C or better,” Gipson said. “We want a diploma from LAUSD to mean something. Ms. King has their families’ best interest at heart.”

In her first meeting as superintendent, King let her local district superintendents know that they should all be personally accountable for contacting students who are not on track to graduate. Staff was notified to help students get into credit recovery programs so they can turn F grades into passing grades. Although the district lowered standards so that students can also graduate with D averages in A-G classes, that is not enough for King.

“You can receive a D to graduate, but we are looking toward the C college-ready achievement, and we would be very pleased to look at how we moved the needle for our kids to make them more college ready,” King said.

In the latest statistics, 63 percent of seniors districtwide are on track to graduate, and 17 percent are off by one or two classes, according to Gipson. The remaining 20 percent need to complete three or more courses.

In order to help those students, the district has 138 auxiliary classes and also offers independent study, blended learning, virtual learning and other individualized programs. At the moment, about 700 students are enrolled in Performance Assessment Student Support (PASS) in-class programs at 28 schools, and 330 have participated in the Students Taking Action for Readiness (STAR 17) program that gives extra instruction and testing time for students who need it. Since August, more than 4,000 students have enrolled in after-school classes at 38 high schools with 1,213 semester courses currently completed.

“We would love to move that green bar for those students who are off by one or two classes, and we have cautious optimism,” Gipson said. “Our predictive data is that it is heading in that direction. We have to wait for the grades.”

Frances Gipson, chief academic officer

Last year, the graduation rate was an unprecedented 74 percent, and this year it could be 80 percent if those students lacking one or two classes are helped. Board member Monica Ratliff exclaimed at the committee meeting, “This could be the highest graduation rate ever!”

George McKenna, a board member and chairman of the Committee of the Whole that heard the report, said, “I’m enthusiastically encouraged” and he suggested looking into the “ethnicities and gender data to see what subgroup is not doing well, we need to know that.”

School board president Steve Zimmer said, “It is evident we are changing what we’ve done before, and I want to keep us positive and keep us moving in the right direction.”

Local District Northeast Superintendent Byron Maltez gave a presentation showing how his district is working with students who are lagging behind. He said they have better ways of identifying and targeting the students now and offer unique individual programs. If students can’t make Saturday or after school programs and have trouble while on computer courses at night, Verdugo High School, for example, has hired a teacher available from 7 p.m. to midnight to answer questions. And San Fernando High School arranges counseling support for students who may have social or emotional issues that prevent them from performing well in class.

Ratliff said she wants to make sure that students in the credit recovery program are getting the same kind of education. “We want to make sure that ultimately the diploma is the same for everyone,” she said.

McKenna added, “You can graduate with a D, but we should not encourage students to only get D’s. It doesn’t make you eligible for college and we should continue to push them, that’s very important.”

According to internal district reports obtained by LA School Report, an estimated 54 percent of seniors are on track to meet their “A through G” requirements. The actual graduation rate could be even lower as there are several other requirements to graduate.

While the estimate is a stark drop from last year’s all-time high of 74 percent, it has been known for years that the district was facing a steep decline this year, when stricter graduation requirements went into effect.

But while the drop was anticipated, the recent internal reports showing a 27 percent plunge from last spring’s rate elicited an alert from the superintendent directing urgent new steps, including weekly updates from staff and letters sent monthly to parents, starting in February, informing them of the necessary courses that need to be completed.

The district would not disclose how many seniors had received “off track” letters this month. According to data available in October, the district had 33,420 seniors in the 2015-16 school year, meaning an estimated 15,373 would currently be off track for graduation.

The new estimate does not reflect progress by a $15-million credit recovery program begun last fall that puts students in specials classes after school and during breaks to help them pass classes they previously failed. District leaders in November had reported an extremely high participation rate in the program and predicted a high pass rate, which if proves true could land the 2016 graduation rate close to last year’s.

Still, despite the optimism over the ongoing credit recovery program, Superintendent Michelle King wrote in a January email to local district superintendents, “This is ‘all hands on deck.'” The email was sent a week after she was installed as superintendent, and King also created a timeline that calls for regular updates to her office as well as benchmarks for the district to meet between now and the end of the semester.

King inherited a number of major district problems, but perhaps none more urgent than the pending graduation crisis. In the memo, King said that “my top priority is ensuring that all students graduate and complete A-G requirements.”

She added, “This [54 percent estimate] will likely increase in the coming weeks as a result of the constant monitoring, additional resources to schools, and ongoing credit recovery efforts you have coordinated. Nonetheless, if even one student fails to graduate, that is one too many — we cannot rest until every student graduates college-prepared and career-ready.”

Another district report obtained by LA School Report includes a school-by-school breakdown of estimated graduation rates and shows that some schools are facing a daunting challenge. The Foshay Learning Center (91 percent) and Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet (81 percent) are well ahead of last year’s 74 percent graduation rate for the district, while others like Dorsey High (41 percent) and Verdugo Hills High (43 percent) are far behind.

The new A-G graduation standards were drawn up by the board in 2005. The standards, which require students to pass a series of classes making them eligible for admission into California’s public universities, go into effect for the first time this year. The 2005 board thought that 11 years was enough time for the district to improve its curriculum efforts to meet the raised bar, but it was not.

In the face of the pending graduation dropoff, the school board amended the requirements in June so that students only need to earn a “D” in the A-G classes and not the “C” that would be required for college eligibility starting in 2017. The move was a significant concession by the board, as the entire purpose of the A-G curriculum was to get more students into college. This year’s class was always to be allowed a “D” to meet A-G requirements.

The June resolution reaffirming the board’s commitment to A-G called on the superintendent’s office to develop a long-term plan set to begin in the 2016-2017 school year, leaving the class of 2016 caught somewhat in the middle and without much help but for the credit recovery program.

An A-G task force also produced a comprehensive report in the fall that calls on detailed and wide-ranging improvements the district needs to make to improve A-G completion, but much of it is also broader and long-term without much immediate help for the class of 2016.

The new 54 percent estimate — which includes all data from the fall semester — is a bump from the last available district estimate, which in October showed 49 percent of seniors were on track with A-G. But with only marginal improvement over the fall semester, it is clear that the credit recovery program is key to making any significant increase before the spring semester concludes.

Frances Gipson, the district’s chief academic officer, wrote in an email to LA School Report that the credit recovery program is going well.

“Superintendent King is monitoring our A-G progress with focused weekly meetings and updates,” said Gipson, who is in charge of the A-G implementation plan. “Students are currently enrolled in recovery options and are also successfully completing advanced courses. Our approach is about access, accomplishment and providing a personalized opportunity for our scholars.”

For credit recovery, each of the six local district superintendents was given the freedom to craft their own plan using a number of options, part of a decentralization effort that was put into place by former Superintendent Ramon Cortines. Each plan rolled out at a slightly different time throughout October and November, depending on the district.

Many of the credit recovery options are computer-based, like Edgenuity, which is being used on a wide scale. Students take the classes on Saturdays, during free periods or after school. The computer courses either have a teacher adding some instruction to go along with the computer program, known as blended learning, or it is or an all-online course, known as virtual learning.

In the fall, a high level of seniors missing A though G courses were signed up. For example, Gipson — who at the time was the Local District East superintendent before being promoted to her current role — reported that every senior short of an A-G course had been signed up for credit recovery in her district.

While Gipson reported that credit recovery is still going well in 2016, she did not offer any estimates as to what level it may impact the graduation rate.

“Our counselors and teachers are amazing. Local school leadership teams are rallying around our graduates, and our data points continue to increase,” Gipson said. “For example, over the winter break more than 800 student courses were recovered through our A-G localized plans.”

The credit recovery program, if it turns out to be as successful as has been predicted by district officials, is being achieved through the relatively modest cost of $15 million. When asked directly in the fall why the district hadn’t done anything like it before, Gipson said, “As we are coming out of one of the worst financial times in educational history, as a leader I’m happy it is happening now for kids and we can put the resources behind it to make sure it happens for kids.”

An additional four points was added to the total from Senate Bill 725, the district said, which allowed about 1,400 of last year’s seniors to graduate even though they had not passed the California High School Exit Exam.

Comprehensive high schools also saw an increase to 83 percent, up from 77 percent in 2013-14. The rate for comprehensive high schools does not include continuation or other alternative high schools.

The final graduation rates will be calculated  by the state in the spring. In 2013-14, the state’s final graduation rate for LA Unified was 70 percent.

“These results reflect the efforts by our teachers, administrators and staff to prepare our graduates for college and careers,” Superintendent Ramon Cortines said in a statement. “I am very proud of their hard work, and of the accomplishments of our new graduates.”

This year’s numbers represent a 29 percent increase in graduation rates since 2006-07, when the dLA Unified began calculating the preliminary rate, the district pointed out in a press release.

But there may be a chance to avoid the sudden drop.

With graduation rates growing steadily over the last four years for which data is available, peaking in 2013-14 at 70 percent, and no major surprises for the class of 2014-15 expected, the class of 2015-16 is facing a true crisis. According to district officials and internal documents obtained by LA School Report, the only real hope to avoid a plunge is successful implementation of new credit recovery programs, which have only just begun in recent months.

The credit recovery programs involve seniors who lack enough credits to graduate taking extra classes offered during free periods, after school, on Saturdays and during the upcoming Thanksgiving and winter breaks. In at least two of LA Unified’s six local districts a large number of seniors have already enrolled.

“It’s our goal make sure every student who is missing course work in 2016 has an opportunity to take a course,” said Christopher Downing, superintendent of Local District South.

How did LA Unified end up heading toward such a dramatic downtown? Essentially, it began in 2005, when the school board passed a resolution raising the bar on graduation requirements. The new requirements, known as A though G, go into effect for the first time for this year’s graduating class and call on students to pass a series of courses that would make them eligible for admission into California’s public universities.

The A-G plan also required all students for the class of 2017 to earn a at least a C grade in each course to graduate. Then in June of this year, the board lowered the standard to a D as an effort to improve graduation rates.

Meanwhile, the district has embarked on two studies for the future. The June resolution called on the superintendent’s office to develop a long-term plan to go into effect for the 2016-2017 school year, leaving the class of 2016 caught in the middle. An A-G task force also produced a comprehensive report last month, but much of it is broader and long term without immediate solutions for the class of 2016 other than credit recovery.

Internal district documents show just how dire the situation may become if the credit recovery programs are not successful: Projections show that in each of the six districts, the A-G completion rate for 2016 would be 50 percent or less.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines noted in an internal memo to the school board that “LAUSD has other graduation requirements, such as service learning, which means the total percentage of students on track to graduate might be lower (than 49 percent).”

In the spring, Cortines restructured the overall district, creating six local districts and giving them greater autonomy in solving problems, including A-G challenges.

“In the spirit of decentralization, the Division of Instruction would like to honor autonomy and innovation by providing each Local District Superintendent with the current A-G data for each school,” reads one document titled Decentralization of the A-G Plan.

Frances Gipson, local superintendent of the East District, agreed that the A-G decentralization plan is one of the first big examples of the new autonomy, and said, “I think you are going to see different models in different areas.”

Downing agreed.

“It is a little bit more (autonomous), and we appreciate the opportunity to have a nuanced approach. Different local districts chose different paths based on their knowledge of the community,” Downing said.

In the South District the plan for credit recovery hinges very strongly on a new online program called Edgenuity. Students will be taking the classes mostly on Saturdays or after school, and it involves either a teacher running the class along with a computer program — known as blended learning — or an all-online course known as virtual learning.

Through eight five-hour sessions, students are tested and quizzed in courses they have already taken but did not pass. If they can prove proficiency they receive a “C” grade.

In the South, 53 percent, or 2,635 students, are currently off course on A-G completion, but Downing said 1,342 seniors out of approximately 1,500 that are missing six or fewer A-G courses have already signed up for Edgenuity. If even half of the 1,500 students successfully complete the programs they need, it would raise the A-G completion rate to 62 percent in the South. If almost all of them did, it would raise it to around 77 percent.

Downing expressed a great deal of optimism that the program would make significant improvements to the 2016 graduation rate.

“I had an opportunity to visit five classrooms this weekend, and the students were truly engaged in the work and excited about this opportunity,” he said.

In the East district, Gipson said Edgenuity is being implemented on a wide scale, but other credit recovery programs are also being used at a high level. Every senior in the district short of an A-G course has been enrolled in some type of credit recovery program that will be beginning within the next few weeks, Gipson said.

With the aggressive credit recovery programs showing so much early success, it does raise one question: Why wasn’t this done before? But that’s a question that spans 10 years, many school board members and several LA Unified superintendents. Gipson, who only was promoted to her role in July, said she didn’t have an answer but is pleased that it is happening now.

“As we are coming out of one of the worst financial times in educational history, as a leader I’m happy it is happening now for kids and we can put the resources behind it make sure it happens for kids,” Gipson said.

At the top of the list is a resolution to ease rigorous graduation requirements and calls for another study — this would be the third in ten years — of how well the district has implemented the controversial A-G policy. Answer: Not very well.

Beginning with the Class of 2017 students must pass 15 college prep courses with a grade of “C” or better in order to receive their diplomas. But new data from the district shows that only 37 percent of students are on track to graduate meeting those standards.

The new plan, sponsored by board members Monica Garcia, Steve Zimmer, and George McKenna, would make a “D” an acceptable grade and essentially thwart an imminent graduation rate crisis. It would also trigger a six month study to catalogue schools that have successfully implemented the policy as well as those that haven’t.

Students at schools that are falling short would receive additional resources including an Individual Graduation Plan, access to summer school or adult education courses, and additional college and restorative justice counselors. Schools would receive extra funding while teachers get more professional development.

Similarly, a resolution by McKenna, Zimmer and Monica Ratliff called “Zero Dropouts” targets the same at risk population of students and makes several recommendations for keeping them enrolled in the district.

One suggestion: extend high school eligibility to age 22 in all cases for students who have not earned sufficient academic credits for graduation after four years of enrollment.

The district does not have a cut-off age for students. “We don’t have a clear policy at this time,” Gayle Pollard-Terry, a spokesperson for the district told LA School Report.

“We look at each case on individual basis,” she said. “We certainly are opposed to checking students out of school just because they have turned 18. It depends on number of credits and what makes the best sense for the student in terms of reaching the graduation requirements.”

Another suggestion by board members is to make school hours more flexible to accommodate high school students who may need additional support due to unique situations, including employment needs, parenting and family responsibilities, and health related issues.

The measure also calls for changes on campus including smaller class sizes and expand credit recovery programs including summer school and adult education. Adding more counselors and restorative justice programs would also be integral to the plan.

Finally, a resolution to dedicate one Communications Department staffer as the district’s premiere marketer is intended to boost enrollment which has been in decline for a decade.

Enrollment declines by about 3 percent annually owing to a decreasing birthrate, movement of families outside district lines, and the increasing popularity of charter schools. That costs the district about $100 million per year.

Ratliff argues that the district is losing the fight to charter schools because they “frequently have marketing materials that are designed to sell their schools and programs.”

An LA Unified marketing guru would do the same for many of the district’s most successful schools and programs. Additionally, district-run schools in immediate competition with other educational providers will shoot to the front of the line for help, getting marketing assistance as soon as next week.

Although Ratliff is the sole sponsor, the resolution encompasses many of the ideas discussed at last month’s meeting of the Committee of the Whole, which includes Zimmer and McKenna.

After years of working under an expired contract, UTLA members last week overwhelmingly approved a tentative agreement with the district that will lead to 10.4 percent raise for teachers over two years. More than 97 percent of union members, nearly 25,000, voted yes and once the board approves it, the new contract will bring teachers a boost in paychecks as early as next month.

The new deal is expected to cost the district about $633 million over three years, plus an additional $31.6 million for several labor groups with “me too” clauses, also over three years, as part of a budget that was already $140 million short, according to LA Unified officials.

But despite the victory that both sides are claiming in reaching a deal after such a long and contentious negotiations, UTLA is planning a rally outside the meeting to fight proposed program cuts and layoffs. Last month the district issued 609 layoff notices to a combination of teachers, counselors and psychologists, and several programs, including adult and early education, face severe cut backs.

Another group intent on demonstrating are supporters of a resolution — the Equity on A-G: Re-affirming Our Commitment to A-G Life Preparation for All — sponsored by Mónica García and Steve Zimmer.

The resolution is an effort to correct a situation the board created 10 years ago when it passed a new set of college-prep high school graduation requirements called A through G. While the original policy was designed to benefit all students by equalizing access to college-preparing courses, it has inadvertently created a ticking time bomb: Only a fraction of students are prepared to take the more rigorous courses by the time they reach high school, which means that by 2017, the first year the requirements will be fully implemented, the district expects to a sharp decline in the graduation rate.

The resolution calls on Superintendent Ramon Cortines to launch district-wide audit of the A through G implementation strategies, to create an intervention plan for those schools failing to ensure students are college eligible and to require an Individual Graduation Plan for all seniors.

A press release issued by the United Way, one of several community organizations backing the resolution, estimated 500 supporters will rally outside the board meeting.

Another resolution aimed at making students college and career ready is “Seek Greater Opportunities for Four Year Olds,” a plan to expand Transitional Kindergarten to include thousands of students losing access to specialized preschool services next year due to budget cuts.

Board members Mónica Ratliff and Bennett Kayser are behind the resolution, which targets children who would typically enroll in a program, School Readiness and Language Development Program (SRLDP), slated for elimination. It calls on Cortines to ask “that the Education Code and any other applicable laws be changed or clarified so as to allow the District to enroll in [Transitional Kindergarten] any child who will have his or her fifth birthday prior to September 1 of the immediately following school year.”

Proposed cuts to SRLDP have faced strong opposition especially after the district adopted resolutions in 2013 and 2014 that effectively call for boosting support for early education.

If passed, this latest plan would create a new pathway to serve the needs of many of the students who will not be able to attend SRLDP. Further, they contend Transitional Kindergarten may even be better for young children in need, as it provides a full day program as opposed to the half-day, Monday through Thursday schedule of the current SRLDP program.

Members will also consider two motions designed to help reverse years of declining enrollment. Zimmer and Ratliff are proposing to request that Cortines develop a “strategic plan for investments” that would identify programs that are currently growing enrollment and would include one, three and five benchmarks for reversing this trend and base it, in part, on programs within the district that are helping grow enrollment.

And George McKenna is introducing a plan that would enable high schools students to remain in school until age 22 to get their diploma, rather than drop out.

The percentage of local students in the Class of 2014, who earned a diploma in four years reached 70.4 percent, up two percent over the 2012-13 cohort. By contrast, nearly 81 percent of students across the state made it across the graduation finish line. And overall district numbers also lag behind state figures in nearly every other respect, including the dropout rate and graduation rates for Latino students.

But, Daryl Strickland, a spokesperson for the district, says the numbers improve and outpace state gains when they are broken down by school type. For instance, excluding option schools, continuation schools and other specialized campuses, the graduation rate for students attending traditional four-year high schools is 82 percent, a full percentage point higher than the state rate.

“I congratulate our students for this improvement, as well as our administrators, parents, and teachers who encouraged and supported them,” Superintendent Ramon Cortines said in a statement. “I also want to commend the work of support services staff, including counselors as well as health and human services personnel.”

Other significant gains made by the district over last year include a two percent rise in graduation rates among African-American and Latino students, a four percent increase in the rate for English learners and a 10 percent improvement for students with disabilities.

“These increases remind us of the good things happening in our schools every day,”  Cortines said.

Overall, 17 percent of LA Unified students who began high school in 2010-11 dropped out. Another 12 percent, 4,500 students, are on track to finish high school within five years.

Although Latino students make up about 75 percent of LA Unified total enrollment, only 70 percent graduated on time.

Filipino and Asian students have the highest graduation rates, 88 percent and 87 percent of students earning diplomas, respectively. White students, who account for 7 percent of the cohort group, are not far behind with a 75 percent graduation rate.

The second largest racial group in the cohort is African American students with nine percent. But only two-thirds graduated in four years, putting that group in sixth place among eight racial categories identified.

Bi-racial students, or those who identify as more than two race, are the most likely to drop out and least likely to graduate; About 44 percent drop out and 22 percent graduate.

Several board members applauded the results.

“Today confirms the hard work of our students, parents, community, educators, support staff and district leadership,” Mónica García, who was president of the school board when these students entered high school, said in a statement.

Bennett Kayser, who is running for a second term, said the data shows “that we are getting LAUSD back on track and moving forward.”

“I’m proud of the progress our district has made, despite the challenges that students, families and schools faced during the financial crisis,” said Tamar Galatzan, who is also running again, adding, “Now, with the additional resources we expect to get from the state, we must increase our efforts at every level so that our kids graduate with the knowledge and skills to succeed in the real world.”

The new graduation rate results come one day after the announcement that California finished sixth in the nation in the percentage of high school graduates from the class of 2014 who passed an Advanced Placement exam with a score of three or better.

It was the second-straight year the state ranked sixth.

The report, BLACK LIVES MATTER: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, analyzed data from 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as from 56 districts in the country that have the largest enrollment of black male students. It found that black males had the lowest graduation rates in 35 states of any racial group, and the gap between black and white males is more than 25 percentage points in some states.

At LA Unified, which had the sixth-largest enrollment of black males in the country, the gap between white male and black male graduation was 23 percent.

Among the school districts analyzed, LA Unified’s graduation rate for black males was ranked 30th, tied with several others. Montgomery County (MD) had the best, with 74 percent, while Rochester (NY) was the lowest at 9 percent.

Graduation rates for black males and other students of color is something LA Unified has addressed in a public and aggressive manner the last few years, in particular with its new focus on restorative justice, which seeks to lower suspension and expulsion rates after studies found that students of color were being disproportionately expelled and suspended, reducing graduation rates.

It is also important to note that overall graduation rates have increased in LA Unified since 2011-12, which was the year the report analyzed.

Across the board graduation rates for the class of 2013-14 rose by 12 percent over the previous year, the highest increase in a single year on record for the district. But when broken down by race, the numbers are even more impressive: Black students increased 17 percentage points to 71 percent. The remaining groups made gains of 12 percent, boosting Latinos to 76 percent; Asians to 87 percent; and white students to 84 percent.

“I am very proud of our LAUSD team, who helped us get closer to our 100 percent graduation rate goal,” board President Richard Vladovic said in a statement. “The gains were made as a result of a lot of hard work from our staff and students,” he added.

Newly appointed superintendent, Ramon Cortines, also gushed about the numbers.

“We’re proud of our students, proud of our schools and proud of the rising graduation rates,” he said. “Even as we celebrate this achievement, students deserve our best effort. Combined with their endless potential, we will work with them to achieve even more.”

Other groups of students also made significant gains. Reclassified English Learners increased by 6 percentage points to 85 percent; economically disadvantaged students expanded by 11 percentage points to 78 percent; and students with disabilities grew 16 percentage points to 57 percent. The only students to experience a decline were English Learners, down two percent to 27.

LA Unified

“This is a historic high for L.A. Unified. The preliminary rate does not factor in students who completed their requirements in summer school, and have also graduated. I expect the rate to grow,” LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy said in a statement. “I am grateful for the work that our teachers, administrators and staff have accomplished. I am also exceedingly proud of our nearly 25,000 graduates.”

The numbers show a 77 percent preliminary graduation rate for 2013-14, an increase of 12 percentage points over the previous year’s preliminary figure of 65 percent. Final graduation rates for 2012-13 were 68 percent, and increased from 65 percent the previous year and 62 percent for the 2010-2011 school year.

The preliminary graduation rate includes comprehensive high schools only, not option schools, but the final numbers will also reflect option schools, according to a the district.

The rising graduation rates have coincided with Deasy’s stewardship of the district, and the positive news comes at a time that the school board is reportedly looking to remove him.

Deasy’s tenure has also seen improved academic performance from students, while on the other side he has received large amounts from criticism from the teachers union and some school board members over his managerial style and the problematic rollouts of the iPad and MiSiS programs.

“We continue to move closer to our goal: All students graduating college-ready and career-prepared,” Deasy’s statement said. “The results keep getting better and better.”

* UPDATED

For the third straight year in LA Unified, the high school graduation rate increased and the dropout rate decreased, according to new state data released today.

Last June, the graduation rate climbed to 67.9 percent, or 1.3 percentage points higher than the previous year. And more students stayed in school: The dropout rate for the same group fell by 3 percentage points, to 17.3.

“Our rate of improvement is on par with the whole state, and considering we’re the largest district with a majority of it’s youth in very difficult circumstances, I’m very please with that,” LA Unified’s Superintendent John Deasy told LA School Report.

“I am particularly pleased to see this increase in the year of the worst effects of having cuts year after year after year. We had fewer resources than we’ve ever had in our life, and we’ve been cutting year over year over year and we’re still seeing increases, and I think that’s very good.”

Deasy also said he was pleased with the continuing decline of the dropout rate, but be insisted that overall, “This is good progress but it’s not enough. And I am very heartened that I have a proposed budget for investments that target exactly the population that are struggling to get to four-year cohort graduation rate. And I believe the tools to do that are within our means.”

Richard Vladovic, president of the LA Unified School board, said, “In the Los Angeles Unified School District, every child is worth it and the improvements shown in the past three years are indicative of the district’s hard work. This is only the beginning and we need to continue to do better and improve. I want to personally thank our district staff and ask them to keep up the great work.”

The graduation and dropout rates were included in the state results announced today by California schools chief Tom Torlakson.

Overall, performance for the state was better than by LA Unified, the nation’s second-largest school district. Of the students who started high school in California in 2009-10, 80.2 percent marched to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance” last June. That was the same rate of improvement that LA Unified experienced.

“It’s the first time in our state’s history, that more than 80 percent of our students are graduating,” Torlakson said in a phone conference with reporters. “Despite the recession, despite the chaos of the five tough years, the focus on graduation rates and dropping the drop out rates have made a difference.”

Torlakson said he had “no scientific analysis” to explain the positive trajectory, but that districts are doing a better job in “helping English language learners gain important reading skills by the third grade” and “more funding has lead to better student outcomes.”

Across LA Unified, larger numbers of Hispanic students are continuing to graduate, the data shows. For the third year in a row, the number increased, to 26,820 last year, from 25,240 two years earlier.

But rates for African-American, Asian and White  students are down for the second time in three years.

While Deasy has repeatedly stressed that “the district’s most important goal is to have students graduate from LAUSD college ready and prepared for careers,” the needle on that measure barely moved this year.

Only 36.9 percent of district students completed courses required for admission to the University of California and California State University systems. That compared to a state average of 39.4 percent and represented only a slight improvement over the year before for the district, when 36.8 percent of district graduates were ready for the state universities.

The announcement by Torlakson coincides with another report, “Building a Grad Nation,” from America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit group founded by Colin Powell, that concludes the U.S. is on pace to reach a 90 percent high school graduation rate by the class of 2020  — only if California makes a major effort to boost the performance of English learners, low-income, and special-education students.

The Alliance report concluded: “As the most populous state and most diverse state, California needs to be a focus of national attention and work. With the highest poverty rate in the country, a median household income 20 percent higher than the nation’s, and a population that is 61 percent non-Anglo, California is key to reaching 90 percent graduation rate nationally.”

*This version includes comment from Richard Vladovic