Niskayuna graduation rate really 94%

A data-reporting error created the appearance of a five-point dip in the Niskayuna School District’s graduation rate released earlier this month, when actually the rate dropped just one percentage point.

The numbers originally submitted by school officials to the state for 2015 were 310 graduates out of 345 students, for a 90 percent graduation rate. After the data correction, the figures were 312 out of 333, or 94 percent.

Niskayuna school officials failed to exclude 10 students who had left the district from its class size of 333 and also included a student in the wrong cohort year. That student was part of the 2012 freshman class, not the 2011 class.

Also, two students who had graduated in June were left in a “still enrolled” category, and one student who was reported as a dropout actually had transferred to a different district.

“It was a simple error in the process,” Niskayuna Superintendent Cosimo Tangorra Jr. said Monday. He called it a “clerical error,” adding that district officials were using it as an opportunity to “tighten up” their data-reporting procedures. He said, however, that he has the final responsibility for making sure the data reports are accurate.

When the state Education Department released statewide and district-level graduation rates for 2015 on Jan. 11, Niskayuna’s rate was shown as dropping from 95 to 90 percent — a significant decrease for a school that prides itself on graduating a substantial percentage of its students.

Tangorra Jr., who joined the district as superintendent in June, said he signed off on the report around August before it was submitted to the state. At no point before sending the report did it occur to district officials that the data would result in the 90 percent graduation rate being published, he said.

At the time of the statewide grad rates release, district spokesman Matt Leon said in a statement: “We do a thorough job of tracking each individual student, and our internal figures show a consistent graduation rate.”

Board of Education President Patricia Lanotte said she knew something was wrong with the reported data as soon as she saw the state numbers showing a “precipitous” decline in the district’s graduation rate. She said administrators discovered the cause of the problem and communicated to her what had happened the day the state released the rates.

“Clearly someone didn’t see that 5 percent change before it got submitted,” she said. “These are important statistics, and we want to make sure they are accurate on the front end.”

Lanotte said she’s confident the district will use the mistake as a chance to improve its data-reporting processes and put in place checks and balances so that a similar error won’t be repeated. She said she has “full confidence” in the district staff to implement the necessary safeguards for future data reporting, including having an automated computer check of the annual change in graduation rates.

“The question was asked and answered and put to rest,” she said. “As board president, I don’t have any concerns.”

Tangorra Jr. said the mistake didn’t raise any broader concerns about the district’s state reporting process. Ultimately, he added, he felt bad for the district’s students and teachers, who often have among the highest graduation rates in the region and state.

“It was not reflective of the hard work that goes on in our schools by our students and teachers,” Tangorra Jr. said. “We owe it to them that their hard work is reflected in what is shared in the public space.”

Reach Gazette reporter Zachary Matson at 395-3120, [email protected] or @zacharydmatson on Twitter.

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