States and districts are under increasing pressure to ensure all students complete high school in four years; however, many students who fall off-track on the way to graduation take longer than the traditional four years to earn a high school diploma or its equivalent. Unfortunately, those schools and districts serving overage, under-credit students, many of whom successfully complete high school beyond a four-year time frame, often are designated as "in need of improvement" due to low four-year graduation rates. In an effort to recognize schools and districts for their successful efforts to get struggling and out-of-school students back on-track to graduation, some states are beginning to gather five- and six-year graduation rates and are incorporating these extended-year rates into their accountability measures. States gathering such data are able to document increases in graduation rates when comparing four-year rates to five- and six-year rates. To ensure that schools' and districts' efforts to serve struggling and off-track students are recognized rather than discouraged, states should calculate and include five- and six-year high school graduation rates, in addition to four-year rates, in all graduation rate calculation used for accountability purposes. [This brief was written with Gateway to College National Network.]