Pittsburgh Public Schools reports higher graduation rates, unveils Counselor Connect to track at‑risk seniors

Dr. Wayne Walters, superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, told the district’s education committee on April 1, 2025, that the district’s four‑year cohort graduation rate increased to 86.9% for the 2023‑24 school year and described a new counselor application, Counselor Connect, intended to help counselors identify and intervene with students at risk of not graduating.

Walters said the district’s established five‑year graduation goal is 84.4% for the 2024‑25 school year and noted the district’s baseline was 81.5% in 2021. “By the end of the 24‑25 school year, we want 84.4 percent of our twelfth grade students to graduate,” he said, noting progress from 86.1% in 2022‑23 to 86.9% in 2023‑24.

The updates matter because cohort graduation rates measure whether students complete high school within four years and reflect district efforts to prepare students for college, careers and other post‑secondary paths. Walters framed the work as both a data‑tracking effort and a set of investments in people and systems to close gaps for historically marginalized student groups.

District tools and targets

Walters described two primary data systems the district uses: an internal graduation tracker that monitors credit accumulation in real time and an Act 158 dashboard that records progress through Pennsylvania’s multiple graduation pathways. Act 158 allows students to satisfy graduation requirements by demonstrating readiness through Keystone proficiency, a Keystone composite, approved career‑and‑technical education concentrator status, alternative assessments (for example, SAT results) or an evidence‑based portfolio of artifacts.

As of April 1, 2025, Walters said 80.4% of seniors were on track to graduate based solely on credit accumulation, and 70.8% of seniors had already met an Act 158 pathway. Walters said the Act 158 completion share was about seven percentage points higher than the same time the previous year.

Counselor Connect and other investments

The district has merged graduation and Act 158 data into a single Power BI dashboard and launched Counselor Connect, an application Walters said will give counselors “real time access” to each student’s credits, attendance trends, Act 158 status and a communication log to document counselor‑student interactions. Walters credited Mark Stuckey, chief technology officer, and Bill Kim, director of data warehouse and IP support, for contributing to the tool’s creation.

Counselor Connect, Walters said, will generate personalized letters to families, flag nonacademic barriers such as social or economic challenges, and auto‑populate student data to make counselor outreach more efficient. The district has also placed Promise coaches in four high schools through an external investment by Pittsburgh Promise and reported an increase in school counselors with the aim of moving closer to American School Counselor Association recommendations.

School‑level variation and mentorship work

Walters highlighted variation across schools: he said Perry and CAPA were among schools leading with roughly 94% and 96% of seniors on track by credits, while the Student Achievement Center had about 54% of seniors on track and Westinghouse about 72%. He said those gaps “require immediate attention and targeted interventions.”

The district’s third strategy centers on a graduation mentorship program that pairs struggling seniors with mentors chosen by school principals. Walters described a mentor training guide and a documentation form routed to counselors after each session. He said attendance and students’ work or family obligations are recurring barriers to consistent mentor engagement and that the district is shifting recognition from group celebrations to individual acknowledgements to avoid publicly identifying students who are at risk.

Current gaps and next steps

Walters reported that 218 students were not on track to graduate as of the data cited: 178 of those students were off track based on credit completion alone and 40 were off track based on Act 158 requirements or a combination of credit and pathway deficits. The district plans continued professional learning for counselors, expanded digital outreach to families, additional training on the communication log, and monitoring to improve consistent use of the graduation tracker across schools.

During questions, a board member requested school‑level four‑year cohort graduation rates and a breakdown of students by GPA ranges. Walters responded that he would provide the four‑year cohort rate by school and GPA‑range tracking at the next monitoring report.

Community partners credited for supporting students include Pittsburgh Promise, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Media, Macedonia FACE, Carnegie Mellon University and the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh. The district also noted pilot work in the career‑and‑technical education (CTE) program to create a digital portfolio for graduates; Walters said the CTE portfolio is funded in part by state funds and the district hopes to expand a similar digital portfolio to all students in the future.

The presentation concluded after committee members asked clarifying questions about mentorship frequency, mentor selection, digital portfolios and how the district will ensure consistent use of the new tools. Walters and staff framed the work as iterative: continuing to check data, act on findings and refine supports to reach the district’s graduation goal.