K12 Graduation

Highlights

Record Level: Student by cohort year by school year 
Record Count: 120,000-150,000 student per cohort 
Years Covered: 2007-2020 
Population Coverage: Students who enrolled in the 9th grade under an educational entity in Michigan or transferred

The K12 graduation records contain audited tracking of individual students’ progress through high school as they work to graduate. Students are assigned to a cohort (indicated by the COHORT_YEAR variable) based on their expected graduation year when they enter high school from middle school or other non-traditional entries into the school system. Nonpublic, home-schooled, and adult education participant students are not placed into a cohort, but special education transition students are.

Cohorts are used by the State of Michigan to define whether students are on-track for high school graduation in conjunction with several other variables. Exit statuses (EXIT_STATUS_CODE) are reported for each student by their school. The last school to report exit code continuing (‘19’) or a terminating one (‘01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 20, 21, 40 or 41’) becomes the Primary Education Providing Entity (PEPE) for that student.

Cohort and Exist Status Mapping

The table below identifies the exit status codes provided by each PEPE, along with their corresponding exit status definitions, cohort codes, and cohort status categories. The cohort status (COHORT_STATUS_CODE) represents an aggregation of exit statuses to establish the expected graduation trajectory of a student by combining the most recent exit status (EXIT_STATUS_CODE) and grades. These represent the reporting groups used by the State of Michigan with regard to graduation numbers. There are ten possible cohort status categories, and in-depth definitions of Cohort Status categories can be found here.

Note that over the years, some exit codes were discontinued and new ones were added. In SY 2005-06, exit status codes 25 (enrolled in another district, known to continue in special education) and 26 (enrolled in another district, known not to continue in special education) were removed. SY 2004-05 is the last year these codes were used. In school year 2005-06, exit code 30 (exited early childhood or early on program) was introduced and remains in use till date.

Exit status codes 40 (gradated from a Middle College with high school diploma and associates degree) and 42 (graduated from another district) were introduced in school year 2007-08. In SY 2009-10 exit status code 41 (graduated from a middle college with only a high school diploma) was introduced. In SY 2010-11 exit status code 0 (not enrolled) was introduced. These codes are in use till date.

Exit code 18 (left adult education) was discontinued in SY 2012-13.