CAPITAL REGION — Graduation rates increased across the state, but rates for students with disabilities and limited English proficiency continue to lag.

There is also a large difference for some schools in the number of students that graduate within four years and those that take slightly longer, according to data released by the state Education Department at a news conference on Monday.

Local schools showed wide ranges of improvement. The Schenectady City School District had a 71 percent graduation rate in 2006-07, up from 67 percent in 2005-06. Albany’s graduation rate increased from 60 percent to 72 percent. The Greater Amsterdam High School’s graduation rate increased slightly, from 68 percent to 69 percent.

The statewide average four-year graduation rate is 71 percent. That number includes students who graduate in August after completing summer school courses.

State officials noted that the numbers can change dramatically in some districts when the students who graduated in August are not included in the statistic.

For Albany, the percentage of students who graduated in June 2007 is 61 percent, up from 56 percent the previous year, and for Schenectady it is 56 percent, which stayed about the same.

State Education Department spokesman Tom Dunn said students are staying in school beyond the four-year time frame, and the results are paying off.

SCHENECTADY COUNTY

Schenectady City School District Superintendent Eric Ely said the district is happy that the numbers have increased, but not happy that students still are not graduating.

“We don’t want to see 30 percent of our kids not walking across that stage. We want to see every kid graduate in four years, but we’re also realistic.”

He said he does not fault students for taking longer than the four years to graduate. Some students come in behind on their academics, and some students slip during high school.

The district has focused on early childhood education to identify the children who are struggling. Last fall, it opened the Fulton Early Childhood Learning Center for students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade.

Its current initiatives, such as a credit recovery program for students who have failed a class, the Career Center at Steinmetz for eighth- and ninth-graders who have failed a grade and extra remedial math and reading teachers, are reactive, not proactive, measures.

Ely said he is not happy with the achievement gap of Hispanic students and students with special needs. The district has a 60 percent graduation rate for African-Americans, 62 percent for Hispanics and 31 percent for students with disabilities.

He is going to appoint a task force to explore solutions.

“We’re going to have to find some really good research programs because we’re not reaching those students,” he said.

Elsewhere in Schenectady County, the Schalmont School District saw its graduation rate increase from 80 percent in 2005-06 to 93 percent in 2006-07. Superintendent Valerie Kelsey said the district has not done anything different. She said the previous year’s statistics may have been influenced by a change in special education population.

The district is focusing on math and reading literacy.

In other Schenectady County districts, Niskayuna stayed the same at 91 percent; Scotia-Glenville increased from 79 percent to 90 percent; Duanesburg increased from 79 percent to 92 percent; and Mohonasen increased from 80 percent to 83 percent.

ALBANY CITY

In Albany, school spokesman Ron Lesko said the district is pleased it is moving in the right direction.

Among the initiatives are creating a separate ninth-grade facility at the Harriett Gibbons School. It is specifically designed for ninth-graders who want additional help.

“The more successful a student is in that freshman year, the more likely they are to graduate on time,” he said.

In addition, several years ago the district added an extra class period for the majority of its students at Albany High School. Now, it is mandating it for all 2,400 students.

Also, the high school has a partnership with the University at Albany called the Alliance for Young Talent, which offers mentoring and tutoring opportunities. It also has a partnership with the National Urban Alliance on professional development for teachers to help them develop programs that are more culturally relevant to students.

The district has expanded its pre-kindergarten programs and added literacy and math coaches at the elementary level.

AMSTERDAM

The Greater Amsterdam School District was relatively flat in its graduation rate. Its graduation rate for Hispanic students was 43 percent and 28 percent for students with disabilities.

Superintendent Thomas Perillo said the district realizes it has to work on those areas. The district created a GED program this past year that has helped reach more students. It is also instituting an alternative education program for students at the middle school and high school who are having behavioral problems.

Perillo said the district is creating a ninth-grade academy “school within a school.”

The district is also adding two new positions. A coordinator for professional development will be responsible for analyzing data and determining where students are weak. The other new position would be supervisor of reading language arts across the district.

The district has added literacy coaches at all elementary schools, so every school has one. It is also trying new reading programs, including an interactive computer program.

“We feel it’s going to be very, very beneficial for our struggling readers,” he said.

SARATOGA COUNTY

In Saratoga County, Shenendehowa had an 85 percent graduation rate, up slightly from 84 percent in 2005-06.

“We have been and continue to be committed to providing effective strategies, opportunities, programs and services that support all students meeting or exceeding challenging learning standards and maximizing their individual academic potential,” said Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson in a statement. “The fact that 85 percent of our students graduate is a reflection of that commitment to excellence, while at the same time indicates that there is still more work to be done.”

Ballston Spa Superintendent Joseph Dragone said the school has seen consistent gains during the past three years. Its high school graduation rate increased from 77 percent to 82 percent.

The district is in the process of going through a reorganization. It had a separate kindergarten through second-grade facility and two schools for upper elementary grades. Now, it is consolidating those into kindergarten through fifth-grade schools. It is also starting full-day kindergarten.

The district is also launching a new literacy series that relies on student data. “It helps track the progress of individual students,” he said.

State officials were encouraged by improvements in the graduation rates for minority students statewide but said they were not enough.

For Hispanic students, the four-year graduation rate increased from 42 percent to 47 percent between 2005 and 2007 and the rate for African-American students increased from 45 to 51 percent during that same time period.

“The many examples of improvement don’t yet outweigh the remaining challenges, but there are enough of them to demonstrate that thousands more children have graduated than just a few years ago and more will graduate in the years immediately ahead,” said Education Commissioner Richard Mills in a statement. “We have to keep our focus and urgency and help the students who still are not succeeding.”

State statistics show that among those students who started ninth grade in 2002, 73 percent had graduated by 2007, an increase of 6 percent.

About 10 percent more African-American and Hispanic students graduate after a fifth year of schooling.

The graduation rate for students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency has declined.