Gauging improvement and cause for celebration can be difficult.

One person’s failure can be another’s success.

So critics could easily look at the recent graduation rate numbers released for the Natchez-Adams School District and view the numbers as a failure.

The public school district’s graduation rate lagged the state average by more than nine points.

The rate is important as it tracks the percentage of students who graduate four years after first becoming a freshman.

In the Natchez-Adams District, that number was just more than 7 out of 10. That means nearly 3 out of 10 don’t graduate or graduate late.

By comparison, the state average across Mississippi is 82.3, meaning approximately 1.8 out of 10 students fail to graduate or graduate on time.

Both stats seem pretty atrocious until you view the number historically.

Just a few years ago Natchez-Adams’ dropout rate was 60.8 percent. So to put it in perspective, the improvement is more than 12 points. Statistically, at least, that means an additional 1 out of every 10 first-time freshmen are now graduating than just a few years ago.

That’s an impressive amount of growth in a relatively short time frame.

We wish the district continued success on getting the public school “ship” righted again. If such dramatic improvement in the dropout rate can occur again, the district should top the state average soon.