Massachusetts High School Graduation Rate Improves

Massachusetts education officials say the state’s high school graduation rate is up to 86.1 percent, with some of the strongest gains among minority and low-income students.

On Tuesday, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced that the four-year graduation rate for students who entered as ninth-graders in 2010-11, or who transferred in, improved for the eighth consecutive year.

In addition, the state’s annual dropout rate declined to 2 percent in the 2013-14 year, the sixth consecutive year below 3 percent and the lowest rate in more than three decades.

The biggest gains were made by black males, whose graduation rate improved by 3.1 percentage points over the previous year; Hispanic students showed a 2.4 percent improvement; and students from low-income families improved by 2.5 points.