Earlier this year, the Government of Yukon provided information about how graduation rates are calculated and reported and committed to reviewing the methodology and calculations. This special report is the result of this careful review, which included the efforts of Yukon Bureau of Statistics. This report affirms the Yukon government's commitment to transparency, accountability and consistency in reporting data about the education system.
For this special report, Yukon Bureau of Statistics conducted a comprehensive review of the methodologies and data used by the Department of Education. The bureau successfully matched nearly all student records provided by the department with internal population data available to the bureau, apart from some British Columbia students attending Yukon schools. After careful review, the bureau did not find any concerns with the methodology used by the department.
Further, Yukon Bureau of Statistics was able to overcome an existing challenge faced by the Department of Education when it came to distinguishing between students who had moved away from the Yukon and those who had discontinued their education. They were able to use data from administrative files not available to the Department of Education to validate the classification of students as "outmigrants" or "discontinued studies" within each cohort. For this reason, the Six-Year Graduation rate for 2022-23 was able to be updated to better reflect the new information available about outmigrants.
In 2019, the recommendations from the Auditor General report stressed the importance of focusing on outcomes for Yukon First Nations and rural students. This report is designed to honour that direction. It is important to recognize that no single metric or rate can fully explain the true experience of hundreds of students in the education system.
Unlike the typical reports produced by the department, which often emphasize statistical summaries, this report highlights the various possible student pathways through the education system over a six-year period. In addition to the regularly reported Six-Year Graduation rate, the Department of Education is introducing a new metric: First Time Grade 12 Graduation rate.
I'm pleased to share the special report on graduation analysis and graduation rates with Yukoners. Our government committed to reviewing how graduation rates are calculated and this report delivers on that promise. I want to thank the teams at Yukon Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Education for their collaborative efforts.
Minister of Education Jeanie McLean
