Last year's graduating seniors at Lincoln Public Schools scored better than their peers across Nebraska on the ACT for the second straight year despite the challenges of remote learning and staggered schedules.
But the district's on-time graduation rate continued to decline, and disparities among students of color and their white peers persisted, gaps LPS says it is intent on closing.Â
LPS' graduating seniors averaged a 20.6 composite score on the ACT, the college readiness exam all students in Nebraska take as juniors and can retake subsequent times, compared to the averages statewide (20.0) and nationally (20.3). That's also up from the district average of 20.2 in 2019-20.
Reading saw the biggest improvement at LPS, jumping from a 20.7 average last year to 21.6. English and math scores both stayed the same at 19.3 and 20.0, respectively, while LPS saw gains in science for a second straight year, going from 20.3 last year to 20.8.
Statewide, test takers on average scored 19.1 in English, 19.6 in math, 20.7 in reading and 20.2 in science.
The gains among Lincoln students weren't necessarily expected, said Matt Larson, associate superintendent for instruction. Last year was challenging for high schoolers in LPS, who spent three-fourths of the year on alternating in-person and remote schedules, Larson said.
And a significant portion of LPS high school students learned remotely full-time, Larson said. At the pandemic's peak, 26% learned remotely; by the end of the year, 22% were still at home.
"That's one of the reasons we're pleased," he said. "It indicates our students continue to persevere in spite of the challenges of the pandemic."
However, the district's on-time graduation rate dipped slightly last year, continuing a trend started before the pandemic of sliding graduation numbers.
Just under 82% of LPS' seniors graduated on time last spring, compared to 82.5% in 2020 and 83.6% in 2019. The district's graduation rate as calculated by the state — which includes four-year students who transferred into LPS — was 80.5%, well under the state rate of 87.6%.
But a bigger senior class this year indicates that those seniors who did not graduate on time came back to get their diploma, Larson said, which is promising.
Racial disparities persisted, too, with white students far more likely to graduate than their Black and Native peers. More than 85% of white students on a four-year graduation track earned their diploma last year, compared to 52.6% of Native students, which is down from 57.1% in 2020.
For Black students, that number was 64.9%, down from 65.5% in 2020 and 72.3% in 2019. The graduation rate among Latino students ticked up, climbing to 72.2%, up about 5% from last year.
The district has had longstanding disparities in the graduation rate, Larson said, which is one of the reasons officials are looking at the issue as one of the Lincoln school board's equity goals.
That goal includes reducing the differential in the graduation rate among racial subgroups over the next several years, Larson said. Currently, a committee of district and building leaders, teachers and community members are working on a root-cause analysis to come up with solutions to the issue, which will be presented to the board next year.