Palm Springs Unified presents graduation, A–G and dual-enrollment results; district to probe drop in African American cohort

Palm Springs Unified School District officials on Aug. 12 presented preliminary data showing a 90.3% cohort graduation rate for 2023–24 and an approximately 54% A–G (University of California/California State University) readiness rate for the class of 2025, and said they will follow up on a decline in the district’s African American cohort.

The presentation, titled “Milestones and Metrics,” was led by Mark Arnold, executive director of student learning, and Dr. Deanna Killian, director of secondary curriculum and instruction. Dr. Killian told the board that the district’s A–G rate is “preliminarily, we’re looking at approximately 54 percent of our students will meet the minimum entrance expectancies for UC and Cal State systems.”

The report pulled data from the California School Dashboard, CALPADS and the state’s DataQuest tool and covered graduation cohorts, college- and career-ready indicators, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate results, and dual enrollment offerings. Arnold noted that the class of 2025 is “the first class since the COVID pandemic that has not benefited from having any COVID related waiver,” meaning the 2024–25 cohort must meet the usual credit requirements without pandemic-era elective waivers.

On graduation, staff said the validated 2023–24 cohort graduation rate was 90.3 percent. On AP/IB testing, the district reported 201 students recognized by the College Board with AP honors; Cathedral City High School recorded 219 AP/IB exam attempts, 21 nonsubmittals and 115 exams passed, which the presentation lists as a 58% passing rate for the school. The presentation said Cathedral City’s AP pass rate was 60% and its IB pass rate 58% (IB passing defined as a score of 4 or higher).

Staff also reported dual enrollment activity under the district’s memorandum of understanding with College of the Desert. Semester 1 had 27 dual-enrollment courses, 500 unduplicated students and 835 enrollments (students may take multiple courses); staff reported a 91.5% rate of C‑minus or better for semester 1 coursework. Semester 2 had 25 courses, 290 unduplicated students and 759 enrollments, with a 90.8% rate of C‑minus or better. The presentation said 205 students met the district’s dual-enrollment metric of two or more semesters in the year shown.

Board Member Girardi asked about an apparent decline in the African American cohort. "The data here is telling me that the African American students … have been dropping over the last couple years. Have we done any investigation to figure out why?" Dr. Killian and Arnold responded that cohort sizes fluctuate and that part of the district’s work will be to examine cohort counts and exit codes. Arnold said staff will "work with our registrars and work with our site administration to look at those reports more regularly so we can make calls so that we could identify the appropriate exit code" for students who transferred out or whose status is unclear.

Staff also said the district will continue equity and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) walks this year to look for instructional and belonging interventions for groups showing lower rates. The presenters indicated further analysis will focus on validated CALPADS numbers and deeper breakdowns of subgroup trends.

No formal board action on the metrics presentation was taken; staff said they will return with additional validated data and follow-up findings later in the year.