Reno Gazette Journal Nutgraf

Article:
Graduation rates soaring in Washoe County

Lede:

"Washoe County’s high school graduation rate climbed to 70 percent in 2011, 7 percent higher than the previous year and soaring 14 percent in two years, district officials will announce today."

Nutgraf:

"The national high school graduation rate is about 72 percent.

District’s chief accountability officer Paul LaMarca said that staff was still working late afternoon Tuesday to finalize numbers for all subgroups. The information will be revealed today at a news conference at Sparks High School.

LaMarca said the increase of 7 percent from the previous year was a surprise, more significant than the identical increase the previous year and also exceeded the target the district had set for the 2011 graduation class."

I felt that this nutgraf did a good job explaining why the lede was important. It is nice that Washoe County high school graduation rates have risen to 70 percent, but why is that important? In the nutgraf Michael Martinez tells that Washoe is now close the to national average for high school graduation, when only two years earlier Washoe had lagged far behind the rest of the country. We also learn that this years increase in graduation rates exceed the target set by the school district, surprising officials. The nutgraf also made me want to keep reading to learn how the Washoe County school district had been increasing the high school graduation rates at such a fast pace.