Sometimes, appearances can be deceiving. According to Warwick educators, that might be the case for graduation rates reported by the Rhode Island Department of Education.

Rates released last week show the city’s graduation rate at 72.2 percent, almost 10 percent below Cranston’s rate of 81.8 percent and significantly lower than neighboring East Greenwich’s rate of 93.9 percent. These figures were calculated by RIDE with the cohort formula, however, and do not take into consideration students who remain in school but did not graduate in four years or those who have achieved proficiency through the GED program.

“Those numbers are based on certain restrictions. It puts an emphasis on students getting through successfully in four years,” said Superintendent Peter Horoschak. “For some students that pace is not realistic and that needs to be taken into consideration.”

If those two groups of students are added back in to the formula, the city’s graduation rate climbs to 87 percent, falling just 4.2 percent behind Cranston, a similarly sized district that is also considered an “urban ring” area like Warwick.

Where those numbers are particularly surprising are at Warwick Vets.

Vets is ranked last in the Warwick schools, reporting a graduation rate of 70.4 percent. Pilgrim edged them out with a rate of 71.3 percent with Toll Gate leading the pack with a 77.2 percent. Factor in students other than dropouts and the tables turn completely, with Vets taking the top spot at 87.6 percent. Under this circumstance, Pilgrim would show an 86.4 percent rate and Toll Gate an 87.1 percent rate.

In other words, under the cohort method, Vets numbers take a dive – regardless of an overall rise in the graduate rate from last year. The number of Vets students getting their GEDs (4.9 percent) is on par with Pilgrim and Toll Gate who post 4.4 and 3 percent, respectively. Where the difference lies is in the students remaining in school after four years. For the 2008 graduating class, 12.3 percent of Vets students remained in school but did not graduate with the peers they entered with.

“It’s not fair when you look at the numbers,” said Vets Principal Gerry Habershaw, adding that he is proud of his school’s ability to motivate at-risk students. “We’re not the most affluent area to work in so we understand that and we try to work with those kids.”

Habershaw believes the 12.3 percent has a lot to do with the school’s technology education and family and consumer science departments. By allowing students to find an area they’re interested in and not focusing solely on traditional academics, he sees Vets students excelling.

“Some of these kids they need a different approach to education,” he said.

If that’s where Vets’ strength lies, chances are the school is only getting stronger. Starting next year, Habershaw will implement a new method that he hopes will further engage students who are at-risk for dropping out.

“My plan for the future is to break the school into academies. My goal is to create smaller learning communities so you can really get to know these kids and you don’t lose any through the cracks,” he said.

With faculty members at the helm of the project, organizing themselves into academic fields of interest, Vets will offer academies in personal finance, biotech, fitness and law and safety within the next five years, with additional academies possible. Teachers can then take a team-teaching approach by integrating common themes throughout the curriculum.

When Habershaw recently visited Gorton Junior High to recruit students for a career tech program, 45 students were referred.

“That right there tells me there’s a need,” he said.

That particular program will target ninth-graders who will be eligible to enter the vocational program their following year. Habershaw says many of those students are not traditional classroom learners and run the risk of falling through the cracks when they are lumped in with their peers.

“The goal is to get those kids through the ninth grade,” he said.

Figures show that this group of students is particularly at risk to drop out.

Numbers at the New England Laborers’ Career Academy in Cranston for example, show a dismal 56.3 percent graduation rate under the cohort method. Add in the variables and it spikes to 80.5 percent, but five-year graduates are listed separately on the RIDE report.

Toll Gate Principal Stephen Chrabaszcz, who is an Ivy League graduate from Brown University, said he took five years to graduate from high school.

“I needed a little more time so I stayed and finished,” he said.

The figures also count students who the system loses track of and students with disabilities who take longer than four years as dropouts. Two area group homes feed into Vets, so if a student is shuffled out of the school and they are unsure of where he or she has been placed, that student is considered a dropout.

Likewise, if a student is kicked out of one Warwick school and ends up at another – even if for a short time – and then drops out, they are counted against the last school they were at.

Pilgrim has a percent still in school rate of 10.7, which could potentially be linked to the special education program that it is known for.

“Students with disabilities are always treated the same,” explained RIDE spokesman Elliot Krieger. “It may be a challenge for a school but they’re part of the student population.”

RIDE says the motivation behind the switch to the cohort method goes back to the federal No Child Left Behind Act and a National Governors Association compact signed by all 50 states. NCLB requires that graduation rates be reported. This switch in reporting method comes at the same time schools are grappling with the implementation of graduation by proficiency and a change in state testing.

“You’ve got to put these numbers into perspective,” said Pilgrim Principal Dennis Mullen, explaining that the national goal of reaching 100 percent proficiency by 2014 might not be realistic when all of these changes are underway. Moreover, the burden of tracking students lies on the individual schools.

“In this method we count every student and what they do. Before, we basically had an estimate of class size but we didn’t quite know who left and why,” Krieger said.

The addition of graduation by proficiency projects does not seem to have caused a significant increase in those students leaving as some parents and teachers once feared.

“First indicators are it’s helped,” Krieger said.

Many educators are arguing that the numbers are too broad though, and schools are being punished for the students who don’t follow the four-year path.

“If we’re not punished for those students, why not include them?” asked Mullen.

Although students with disabilities can remain in the public school system until they are 21, some of the discrepancy is made up for in the five-year reporting.

Those numbers will not be available until sometime after the close of the 2009 school year.

“That’s why we did report the five-year graduation rate. What the Board of Regents cares about is did you get the kid to graduate, not how long it took them,” Krieger said.

Regardless, Krieger said some schools were surprised and thought their graduation rates seem low. All Warwick schools are up from last year – the first of cohort method reporting – and the statewide four-year graduation rate went up from 70 to 74 percent and the dropout rate fell from 18 to 16 percent.

“I think we can only be pleased when we see that more students are actually succeeding all the way through to graduation,” Horoschak said.

“High school today is much more difficult than when I was in school. If you expect more you’ll get more,” added Chrabaszcz.

What the schools and RIDE can agree on is educating parents and the community on what these numbers mean is key. Educators too must look at the figures to determine what adjustments need to be made to improve graduation rates.

“We have to continually look at our practice and make sure every student has the opportunity, the motivation, the encouragement and the skills to get through successfully,” Horoschak said.