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Norfolk reports roll of seniors on track for advanced‑studies diploma falls short of goal
Summary
Chief Academic Officer reported the division’s target — 32% of the 2025 cohort on track for the Advanced Studies diploma — is currently unmet; enrollment changes and remediation may raise the rate modestly but the cohort currently trails last year’s rate.
The Norfolk School Board received an update on progress toward Goal 5, interim measure 5.3: increasing the share of students who graduate with an Advanced Studies diploma. Chief Academic Officer Dr. Poehl reported the administration’s metric sets a target that 32% of the 2025 graduating cohort be on track to complete the Advanced Studies diploma by the end of the school year.
Dr. Poehl said the 2025 cohort’s current on‑track rate is lower than the comparable 2024 quarter‑one rate by 0.9 percentage points. Based on course enrollment, the division estimated the 2025 cohort’s rate could increase by about 2.2 points by year’s end through current enrollments and credit recovery options such as virtual courses and remediation.
What this means: the administration characterized the cohort as the district’s "oldest cohort" (students already well into high school when tracking began) and said slower growth is partially a result of that timing and current course grades. Staff listed next steps that include district‑recommended remediation practices and post‑test procedures, use of backward‑design protocols, providing timely feedback to students and parents, and sharing lists of seniors who could regain on‑track status with counselors to target make‑up options.
Board member questions focused on implementation details. Vice Chair Thomas asked whether the division can produce a shared digital list for counselors and whether the district has considered automatic (auto‑)enrollment into advanced courses to increase access — a practice some districts use to raise participation in advanced programming. Dr. Poehl said counselors are provided a centrally produced list and that auto‑enrollment has not been used in Norfolk; he added the division is discussing schedule changes (a 4x4 schedule) and accelerated world‑language sequencing that could affect access.
The update included a correction the presenter made to the presentation materials: the target value for the measure is 32% (the presenter apologized for a typo that showed 34% in one slide). The board did not take any formal vote on the measure at the meeting.
