Scholars from the Brookings Institution collected data on 2017-2018 high school graduation rates from 37 states (including Maine) and found that despite interstate variation in overall graduation rates, in each state assessed, boys graduation rates were lower than girls (82 versus 88 percent overall). The U.S. Department of Education requires states to report overall graduation rates, rates by race-ethnicity, and rates by selected subgroups (for instance, children with disabilities and English learners). Although the federal government does not require reporting by gender, many states collect this information anyway; aggregated state data allowed researchers to identify this gender gap, but also to note that graduation rates are especially low for Black and Hispanic boys. The researchers call for the federal government to add gender measures to existing tracking efforts so that patterns at the intersection of race-ethnicity and gender can be more readily monitored and addressed. #education #racialequity
