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Superintendent's Annual Report

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Download the Report Full Report (2.0 MB) Data Tables (Appendix C) (30 KB)

Published March 2008

18th Annual Report - Selected Highlights

Enrollment

Enrollment of 179,234 students for school year 2006-07 reflects the slight but steady decline over the past three years.

Special Needs Students

Students with special needs have constituted a majority of those enrolled in Hawaii public schools. They do so once again in 2007 with 51% having special needs. The challenge and cost of educating these students have become state and national issues.

Teacher Characteristics

The percentages of teachers with advanced degrees (29%) and fully licensed teachers (86%) have increased gradually over the past three years.

Graduation and Dropouts

Hawaii is one of the few states able to calculate its graduation rate by tracking the cohort of first time 9th graders to their 4th (senior) year. This method, considered more accurate than others that are based on approximations, revealed that our four-year graduation rate is 78.9%, about the same rate as in the past two years. However, the dropout rate based on a National Center for Education Statistics definition is calculated to be between 15% to 16%. This translates to a high side estimate because students classified as "unknown leavers" are required to be included in this calculation. The remaining percentage is either continuing with their high school education or has completed school with a special education certificate.

High School Diplomas

For the past three years, nearly a third of the senior class has earned the more challenging Board of Education Recognition Diploma, which requires additional credits and a minimum 3.0 grade point average.