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From https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/english-learners-four-year-graduation-rate-school-accountability

The Unintended Consequences for English Learners of Using the Four-Year Graduation Rate for School Accountability
By Julie Sugarman
Migration Policy Institute

Summary: Under the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), all states use the same formula, known as the adjusted cohort graduation rate, to calculate how many students graduate from high school within the standard four years. Because states are not required to report the number of students who graduate after five or more years, many state accountability systems do not give schools credit for these graduates.

The high stakes attached to the four-year graduation rate can have unanticipated and undesirable consequences for English Learners (ELs), as this report demonstrates, because these students are more likely than their peers to graduate after a fifth or sixth year. Among the most concerning: some high school administrators may turn away those who arrive as older teenagers, despite their eligibility to attend free public school, for fear that their enrollment could damage the school’s graduation rate. And while research shows the importance of giving ELs access to grade-appropriate content while they learn English, some schools may feel pushed to accelerate newcomers' learning to maintain a four-year graduation trajectory, even when an extended timeline and additional support might be a better fit.

Access the report at https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/english-learners-four-year-graduation-rate-school-accountability
Read a recent article about the report at https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/06/06/essa-may-harm-english-learner-graduates/