Graduation rates at Morton East High School are showing some positive trends, according to a report released by the school’s principal, Frank Zarate.

The report, presented to the School Board on July 8, indicates that the overall graduation rate rose 10 percent over the last year and was up by more than 16 percent since 2007. The report also shows that although the 2009 gap between male and female graduation rates increased slightly from the previous year, the gap is far below what it was in 2006.

“I think a 16 percent increase in a four-year period is commendable and shows the tremendous effort of (Zarate and his) staff,” School Board member Patrick Keating said.

Zarate credited much of the school’s success to teachers improving their understanding of how to meet their students’ needs and the district’s selectiveness when hiring new staff.

In his four years as principal at Morton East, Zarate said he has kept an eye out for teachers who are good role models for Morton students and who have previous experience working in urban schools.

“Over the past couple years, we have done a very good job of hiring teachers who are a very good fit for this school,” Zarate said. “I for one, as a principal, am very particular about the teachers we hire to work in this building.”

Board member Margaret Kelley acknowledged the teachers’ successes but said the Cicero high school needs to continue to look for ways to increase graduation rates.

“I’m just concerned about what more we can do to get those numbers up,” Kelly said.

Zarate said school leaders are in no way satisfied with an 80 percent graduate rate, and his staff plans to implement new programs next year to continue the upward trend, including partnering with Northwestern University, which will provide support staff to target and assist at-risk students.

He also pointed out that the true graduation rate for all students is closer to 90 percent, but the state dictates how schools are allowed to calculate graduation rates.

“Quite frankly, the state doesn’t factor in the fact that some kids take a little longer to graduate. Some kids will graduate this month, some will graduate in January, and others will graduate on what we call the five-year plan,” Zarate told board members. “The state is really only interested in knowing how many children graduated in exactly four years.”

Morton East students, 96 percent of whom are Latino, are also faring far better than their peers nationally, where the graduation rate is 55 percent for the subgroup.

“In that sense 80 percent is pretty good, but our goal is 100 and our parents expect that their children are going to graduate in four years,” Zarate said.

Graduation rates
YEAR    RATE(%)     MALE    FEMALE
2006         66               60.6       70.8
2007        64.3             60.7       67.9
2008        70.3            69.2        71.5
2009        80.4            78.2        82.5