State-by-State Graduation Rates for Students with Disabilities:: 2019-2020
States are required to report annually to the U.S. Dept. of Education (ED) the “4-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR)” for all students and separately for many student subgroups, including students with disabilities. The 4-Year ACGR for the 2019-2020 school year was released on December 19, 2022.
ABOUT THE ACGR: The ACGR was put into place in 2008 via Federal regulations to help bring uniformity to the way states calculate the high school graduation rate. Reporting began with the 2010-2011 school year. The ACGR was subsequently included in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) passed in 2015. It was also the subject of non-regulatory guidance released by ED in January 2017.
States are to report only those students who graduated with a “regular high school diploma” in four (or fewer) years. ESSA defines a “regular high school diploma” as the “standard high school diploma awarded to the preponderance of students in a State that is fully aligned with the State’s standards.”
The table below provides the GAP between all students and students with disabilities in 2019-20 by state. (Keep in mind that the GAP would be larger if it were possible to compare students with disabilities to those without disabilities.)
Download the chart (PDF)
![ACGR Gap students with disabilities vs. all students 2019-20](https://www.advocacyinstitute.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2019-20.ACGR_.GAP_.png)
The chart below shows the performance of students with disabilities over the ten years since ACGR reporting began. Download the chart (PDF)
![ACGR for students with disabilities 2010-11-2019-20](https://www.advocacyinstitute.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ACGR.SWD_.2010-2020.png)
See also:
State-by-state Graduation Rates for Students with Disabilities:
2018-2019
2017-2018
2016-2017
2015-2016