During the cohort data review, please focus on the 2018, 2019, and 2020 cohorts, specifically examining students whose exiting status is labeled as 'unknown' in the 2020 cohort. Graduates and completers have been attributed to the 2018 and 2019 cohorts, while students who did not return in the 5th/6th year have been coded as dropouts. Therefore, it is important to carefully review the updated reports, as the rates may have changed. Please note that data for cohorts from 2017 and earlier, as well as 2021 and beyond, are provided for your reference only and should not be reviewed or signed off at this time.

Reporting graduation rates by cohort is required by the federal NCLB act and by NGA compact that Rhode Island has signed. NCLB requires that the graduation rate used for AYP/Accountability give credit for four-year (or less) graduates only.

The 4-year cohort graduation rate is derived by dividing the total # of students in cohort who graduated in 4 years or less by the total # of students enrolled in 9th grade for the first time 4 years ago plus the transfer-ins minus the transfer-outs and deaths.

The 5-year cohort graduation rate is derived by dividing the total # of students in cohort who graduated in 5 years or less by the total # of students enrolled in 9th grade for the first time 5 years ago plus the transfer-ins minus the transfer-outs and deaths.

The 6-year cohort graduation rate is derived by dividing the total # of students in cohort who graduated in 6 years or less by the total # of students enrolled in 9th grade for the first time 6 years ago plus the transfer-ins minus the transfer-outs and deaths.

For the graduating class of 2022-23, students in LEA schools are expected to exit in one of the following categories:

• graduated in 4 years or less (exit class code=1)
• graduated in 5 years (exit_class=11)
• graduated in 6 years (exit_class=12)
• dropped out (exit class code=2)
• completed GED/Other Credentials (exit class code=3)
• retained/still in school (exit class code=4)
• reached maximum age for services (exit class code=5)
• different cohort (exit class code=7, see key concept below)
• transferred to another LEA, out of public schools, out of State, died (exit class code=8)
• exited with unknown reasons (exit class code=9)

Students transferred to another LEA, out of public schools, out of State, deceased will be taken out of the cohort for final calculations. Students whose exit status are unknown or with an invalid code (exit class code=9) will be counted as dropouts if not verified and corrected.

For more information about the cohort graduation rates and the formula used to compute the rates, please click on this link. For more information on how to account every student and maintain records for every exit, please click or follow this link - http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006804.pdf.

With this application, we request districts to review the exit data for all cohorts and provide any necessary updates to the 2020 cohort using the Summer Withdrawal module within the Enrollment Census. This is particularly important for students who exited with unkown reasons. Limited updates to the 2018 and 2019 cohorts will be allowed for students who have not exited these cohorts.  Any modifications to cohorts from prior years are not allowed. If there are no further updates to cohorts 2018 and 2019 and you have already approved these reports, no additional action is requested. If you want to submit additional updates to the two previous cohorts, you may need to request locking the cohort by contacting support.ride.ri.gov.

Basic Instructions

1. Open Internet Explorer (version 6.0 or later) or Microsoft Edge, or Chrome, login to eRIDE portal (http://www.eride.ri.gov/); contact your local data manager if you need a secure eRIDE account.
2. Also contact your local data manager If you do not see this application in your portal (Cohort Exit Data Review).  Make sure you have the right access level to this application: read-only and full access.
3. Click on the Cohort you want to work on - 2018, 2019, 2020 cohort; click on 'Update Student Counts' before you start working on each cohort.
4. Click on a school or district to view the current counts of students by their final exit status and by key demographic and program statuses.
5. Click on the total count on the main page to view and edit individual students' exit status.
6. Click on 'Update Student Counts' to recalculate and update the summary reports when needed.
7. Click on 'Download' to download the entire set  in Excel to your desktop if wished.
8. Only district authorized personnel are allowed to update certain records in earlier cohorts with this application.  Changes to the latest 4 year cohort can only be submitted with the Summer Withdrawal module inside the Enrollment Census.
9. On the student listing page, click on various Exit classes on top to view/update listing by a specific exit class.
10. Click on Update to edit the last enroll/exit date and status for a student when allowed.
11. Students' demographics and program statuses are not for edits.  Students' program statuses are determined by program services students were eligible (e.g., lunch) and/or received (e.g., iep, lep) in the last 4, 5 or 6 years depending on cohort; students' demographic characteristics are determined at the time of exit.
12. Click on the field names to customize the sort.
13. Click on a student SASID number to view the student's enrollment history.
14. To sign off, on the main page, click on the school/district code or the school/district name, print a hardcopy of the summary signoff form/report, sign and fax a copy to RIDE;
15. To electronically signoff and lock the data, click on 'signoff' next to the school/district.  Once the student information is electronically signed off, you will not be able to edit the records.  To unlock a school, contact support.ride.ri.gov. 

Critical Timelines:

Please complete the updates and sign off the data no later than 12/15/2023. Upon completion of this process, RIDE will recalculate, publish and release the rates to the public in mid-December.

In anticipation of this review period, please determine a process for you, your data manager, and district and school administrators to review the data for accuracy. Please keep in mind that the files should reflect all your enrollment and dropout data submissions in the last 8 years.

This timeline will not be extended. This is an important opportunity for you to ensure that your schools’ data are accurate for accountability purposes. Please make every effort to clean your data in the allotted time.

Key Concepts

• cohort - a group of students enrolled in 9th grade for the first time in the same year;
• transferred-ins - are those transferred in from other LEA schools, non-public schools or from out-of-State who are in the same grade cohort;
• transferred-outs - are those transferred out to another LEA, or to private and out-of-State; deaths and illness are treated the same as transfer-outs;
• retained/still in school - are those who did not graduate and who were still in school in the 4th year;
• completed GED/other credentials - are those who completed the GED program in the 4 years based on the State's GED database or those completed an approved program of study and received a certificate of achievement or attendance;
• reached maximum age for services - are those who left school because they have reached the maximum age to receive instructional services allowed by federal, state, or local laws. 
• exited - unknown - are those who exited the State's public schools with codes other than 'graduated', 'dropped out', 'completed GED' and 'transferred out'.
• different cohort - students included in this cohort data set based on the State's records but local records showed they belonged to a different cohort.

Computing the Cohort Rates

The application calculates the rates for each district and school (click on link below each report), but if you prefer, you may turn the numbers in your sign-off Summary Reports into cohort rates yourself:

1. Add the number of graduates, dropouts, completed GEDs, those reached maximum age, retained and those in the unknown category - this will be your common denominator; notice the transfer-outs and students in the different cohort are excluded here;
2. Divide the number of graduates by the common denominator from above, this will be your final cohort graduation rate;
3. Add the number of dropouts and the unknowns, divide the total by the common denominator, this will be your final cohort dropout rate; notice the 'unknowns' are included for dropout rate calculations;
4. You may derive the % retained, completed GEDs or other credentials, and reached maximum age by applying the same procedure; rates for various subgroups can be calculated likewise;
5. Please understand the rates can be very dramatic for small groups, exercise caution when using the data.

Support Contacts

For general support for user accounts and application related questions, and questions related to enrollment history of any students, contact your local data managers in each district or the help desk at RIDE, support.ride.ri.gov.