Reporting of state graduation rates varies by audience

States' data obscure how few finish high school

New York Times  March 20, 2008

States report different graduation rates to federal officials in Washington, DC than they do to their residents.  The widely varying methods of calculation make it difficult to assess states' graduation and dropout rates.  NCLB does not mandate that states use a particular formula to calculate the graduatioan rates although Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has indicated that the Department of Education may impose a uniform formula.