WICHITA, Kansas — Some Black leaders in Wichita worry that the district’s high schools could be inflating their graduation rates — and not only at Southeast High, which has been the focus of a recent grade-fixing investigation.
Members of the Greater Wichita Ministerial League and the NAACP Wichita branch met with Wichita Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld in October.
Several people who attended the meeting said they raised questions about the district’s graduation rates increasing substantially while scores on state assessment tests remained low.
Wichita schools reported a record-high graduation rate of 84.3% for the class of 2024 — a 5.1% increase from the previous year. The graduation rate has risen nearly 14% since 2018.
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of Wichita 10th graders scored in the bottom level on the state math test in 2024. Among Black students, nearly 80% scored in the bottom level.
About half of Wichita sophomores — and 67% of Black sophomores — scored in the bottom level in English language arts.
Michelle Vann, a former middle school teacher and member of the NAACP’s education committee, said the group asked to meet with Bielefeld last fall to discuss strategies for closing the achievement gap.
“It was basically, ‘Where are we at here, and what’s going on?’” Vann said. “If they can’t pass the state assessment, which is just basic standard core curriculum, how are they all of a sudden being able to pass their regular classes? … These numbers don’t correlate.”
Vann said the group also raised questions about the expansion of credit recovery programs, which allow students who fail a class to make up the course credit in a matter of weeks or even days.
“We want our Black and brown children to be walking out of these spaces educated,” she said. “We’re not sending our kids to school to do a packet and to get fake credit.”
Ongoing investigation
Wichita school leaders are investigating allegations of grade-fixing at Southeast High School. The school’s principal was replaced last month.
Some teachers at the school said they noticed students graduating who had failed required classes, and at least one reported concerns to district and state leaders.
District officials now say four Southeast High students were discovered to have 21 credits instead of the 23 required to graduate from Wichita schools. Kansas requires students to pass at least 21 credits, and they have until Sept. 30 to be counted among that year’s graduating class.
“There are no indications of inaccuracies for past years, nor have we seen anything at other schools,” said district spokeswoman Susan Arensman in an email. “We are putting checks and balances into place to make sure there are no issues or concerns with the data going forward.”
Bielefeld, Wichita’s superintendent, acknowledged meeting with Black leaders about graduation rates and other concerns last fall.
He said state assessments — particularly 10th-grade tests, which are the only ones administered during high school — are not an accurate reflection of what students know or can do by graduation.
“Basing the entire four years off of that one test that’s taken over the course of two days seems short-sighted,” Bielefeld said in an interview with KMUW.
“Not trying to discredit it. I just think it’s not really enough to show the whole picture. That was part of the conversation we had then, and we continue to have in the community.”
Credit recovery
Bielefeld also defended the district’s credit recovery programs, saying they are a way for students who have fallen behind to earn credits and graduate rather than dropping out.
“We really, truly believe that every kid needs an opportunity, and sometimes a second opportunity,” he said. “So, we’ve tried to offer a gamut of different avenues. But the credit is the credit, and you have to pass.”
Wichita schools offer a variety of credit recovery programs, including traditional summer school and teacher-staffed learning centers at every high school. There’s also the Simon Youth Academy at Towne East Square and Chester Lewis Academic Learning Center, where students can earn both recovery or original credits.
Another program called Extended Learning Opportunity, or ELO, is designed to keep students from needing credit recovery. If a student fails a class with a grade between 50% and 59%, they can attend ELO to complete assignments and turn the F into a D.
Some students “stop short of graduating because they need a little more time or focus,” said Rachel Bell, director of communication for Wichita schools. “We know that education and a high school diploma often open doors and change the trajectory of lives.”
Vann, the NAACP member, said there needs to be more accountability with credit recovery to ensure that students are meeting state standards.
“Is it fair to our students who are working their butts off that you can be failing and then … in two or three weeks, you can now get a credit?” she said.
Graduation rate formula
One additional factor in Wichita’s rising graduation rate: Increased efforts to track students who leave the system.
Federal law requires schools to measure their graduation rate by dividing the number of graduates by the number of freshmen who started high school four years earlier — minus any students who transfer, leave the country or die during that period. Students who leave without officially withdrawing are counted as dropouts, which lowers the graduation rate.
Lauren Hatfield, Wichita’s assistant superintendent of secondary schools, said school officials spend more time now tracking down students who leave for other states or districts and deleting those numbers from the graduation-rate formula.
“If we don’t do a good job with record keeping … that counts against us, because our data didn’t keep up and wasn’t clean enough,” Hatfield said.
Students who move to a homeschool or unaccredited private school count against the district’s graduation rate, Hatfield said.
Wichita school board members said they feel confident in the district’s graduation rate and the ongoing investigation centered on Southeast.
“We have to be able to trust those numbers,” said board president Diane Albert. “When anything happens that removes any of that trust … we’re going to investigate it, and we’re going to handle it appropriately.”
Board member Stan Reeser said the district is auditing graduation numbers.
“And if we find that this is not a one-off, then we will address it,” he said.
He said Wichita’s rising graduation rates are the result of hard work and a reason to celebrate.
“It appears to me that there is an effort to undermine public education whether we do a good job or not,” Reeser said. “And that’s frustrating.”
Suzanne Perez reports on education for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KMUW, KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
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