Efforts Seek Better Data On Graduates.

The article presents information on the efforts of the state of North Carolina for preparing better graduates. North Carolina says it graduates 97 percent of its high school students, while Washington State reports it gives diplomas to just 66 percent. But researchers, using methods they believe are more accurate, estimate that the two states' graduation rates are essentially the same, at around 64 percent. Federal officials announced that the U.S. Department of Education would publish its own state-by-state graduation data along with the methodologically disparate rates states now reported under the No Child Left Behind Act.