MARSHALL — High school graduation rates in the Marshall Public School District were six points below the state average in 2018, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Education last week.

However, a four-year graduation rate of 76.8% doesn’t provide the whole picture of student progress at Marshall High School, MHS Principal Brian Jones said.

After going through the data, “There are some real positives in there,” Jones said. Some groups of students — including special education students — graduated at higher rates than the state average. Other groups, like students learning English, are graduating after continuing their education one or more years.

When determining student success, Jones said, “We don’t look at one gauge.”

The Department of Education announced last week that a record number of Minnesota high school seniors graduated in 2018. Data available on the Minnesota Report Card website showed a total of 83.2% of high school seniors graduating statewide. At the same time, graduation rates increased statewide for students of all racial and ethic groups, as well as for English language learners, special education students and students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals.

Marshall Public Schools’ 2018 graduation rate didn’t keep up with the state average, the data said. Overall, the district had a four-year graduation rate of 76.8% in 2018. That figure included graduates from both Marshall High School and MATEC. In 2018, MHS had a graduation rate of 80.7%. MATEC had a graduation rate of 46.4 percent, but with a much smaller class size than MHS.

Minnesota Report Card data said a total of 13 students graduated MATEC in 2018. Six students continued their education past four years, and six dropped out. Overall in the Marshall district, a total of 185 students graduated, with 28 staying in school past four years, and 18 students dropping out, the report card data said.

Marshall’s four-year graduation rate has declined over the past few years, from 85.4% in 2015. The 2017 graduation rate was 80.1%.

The data on students staying in school past four years points to some other signs of Marshall students’ progress, Jones said. Marshall’s five-year graduation rate was 84.7% last year, compared to a state average of 85.8%.

With certain populations of students, like English language learners, “They are staying with us and graduating in five, six or seven years,” Jones said. While the Minnesota Report Card data showed a four-year graduation rate of 28% for English learners at MHS, their five-year graduation rate was 38.7%, and the six-year graduation rate for English learners was 57.1%.

MHS has been working to identify the challenges facing some student demographics, and put educational supports in place for them, Jones said. Some examples include math classes to better prepare English learners, and high school classes co-taught by subject teachers and English language teachers. He said co-teaching classes are available for science, social studies and careers.

“I feel like we are making progress,” Jones said.

Other groups of MHS students graduated at rates higher than the state average in 2018. Students receiving special education services had a 66.7% graduation rate, compared to a state average of 62.3%. White students had a 92.1% graduation rate.

Minnesota currently has a statewide education plan with the goal of having a 90% graduation rate by 2020, with no single student group’s graduation rate falling below 85%.

“We recognize that the goal we set for 2020 was ambitious, and it must be,” Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker said last week. “One Minnesota includes a commitment to support all our students to graduate.”

The Minnesota Report Card data includes a variety of statistics for schools and school districts across the state, like information on student demographics, school attendance, and whether students are meeting state standards.

In the Marshall Public School district, 93.4% of students were consistently attending school, which was higher than the state average of 85.6%, the report card data said. In 2018, more than half of Marshall students were meeting standards for math, science and reading. A total of 60.6% of Marshall students were meeting math standards, 60.7% were meeting reading standards, and 55.8% were meeting science standards.