Data shows modest uptick in students on track for advanced diploma; district flags rising chronic absenteeism
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Summary
Norfolk Public Schools reported a roughly 1.3 percentage point increase in students on track for the advanced diploma and a rise in chronic absenteeism from 17.3% to 19.9%; the division credited the 4x4 schedule and earlier interventions but board members pressed for root‑cause analysis and more targeted supports.
Norfolk Public Schools staff presented Board Goal 5 data on Feb. 18 showing a small increase in the share of students on track for an advanced studies diploma and a concerning rise in chronic absenteeism.
"What we're seeing overall is a slight increase here of 1.3 percentage points in the students on track for advanced diploma," Kristin McGarity, the district's data expert, said during the workshop presentation. McGarity attributed the improvement in part to the district's 4x4 course schedule, earlier multidisciplinary intervention teams, and increased use of tutoring services.
McGarity highlighted that the 2027 cohort has already earned substantial verified credit: "the 2027 cohort who are currently on track for advanced studies diploma, 95.7% have already earned 60% of their verified credit," she said. The team also reported a quarter‑to‑quarter increase of about 4.1 percentage points for another cohort when grades were included.
But the division also reported a rise in chronic absenteeism: "we're seeing increases here… from 17.3 to 19.9," McGarity said, and explained the district flags students who have missed 10% of possible school days on a year‑to‑date basis and uses attendance recovery (makeup hours with certified teachers) plus remediation as key remedies.
Board members asked for more detailed tracking and root‑cause work: several asked whether absences were driven by health-related illness (flu, hand‑foot‑and‑mouth were cited anecdotally), access to courses (world languages and full‑year AP math were mentioned), and whether tutoring usage could be tied to academic gains. McGarity said the district can pull usage reports for tutor.com and cross‑reference them with course enrollment and outcomes but that deeper analysis would take more time.
On dropout metrics, staff characterized the trend as stabilizing and lower than in recent years: the final dropout rate for last year's cohort fell to 12.5% after end‑of‑year and summer interventions, staff said. The presentation linked these improvements to rapid interventions, grad coaches and attendance‑focused recovery programs.
The board asked for ongoing monitoring and clearer metrics to evaluate whether strategies such as tutor.com, attendance recovery, and targeted professional development for teachers (supported by Title II funds) are producing measurable gains. District staff said principals and grad coaches are already using data to identify at‑risk students and that some of the analytic answers will be part of subsequent quarterly reports.