Students in the Class of 2024 started high school in distance learning in the fall of 2020 — the thick of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, many of them graduated. But many didn’t.

The Oregon Department of Education on Thursday released the state’s latest graduation rates. At first glance, the data seems promising.

After their first year of high school, more than a quarter of the students in the Class of 2024 were not on track to graduate in four years. Yet, in the end, 81.8% of them did.

That means about 38,700 public school students in all 36 counties earned their diploma last year, signifying the second-highest rate in Oregon’s history.

There were other bright spots, too.

Students involved in career and technical education programs, known as CTE, graduated at higher rates, up in the 90s, depending on how involved they were in the programs.

Former English Learners — students who have completed “English Learner” programs before entering high school in Oregon — graduated at nearly 88%, about six percentage points higher than the statewide average for all students, regardless of language background. That’s an all-time high for that student group.

And students in special education programs also saw the highest graduation rate for that group at almost 69%.

“I’m proud of the Class of 2024 and the educators and parents who didn’t give up on students. This news is about resilience and dedication,” Gov. Tina Kotek said in a recent statement. “Let’s keep building on this progress and provide every Oregon student the best opportunity to thrive.”

District results varied. Some exceeded the state average, such as Beaverton, Bend-La Pine, Portland and Tillamook school districts. Comparatively, others’ districtwide averages, such as those from Salem-Keizer, Eugene and Woodburn, fell slightly below the state’s average.

Five of Salem-Keizer Public Schools’ six comprehensive high schools had graduation rates above the state average.

“We are always going to celebrate the success of our students because they deserve it, and their families deserve it,” said Salem-Keizer board chair Cynthia Richardson. “And while we celebrate the success of our graduates, we need to keep advocating for the resources needed by our students who have not yet reached graduation.”

Much like with scores on the NAEP tests released yesterday, education advocates are not seeing the post-pandemic improvements in key school metrics they had hoped for.

Oregon schools showed slow but steady increases in statewide graduation rates year after year leading up to the pandemic. But the state’s latest average of 81.8% is only 0.6 percentage points higher than the year before — and the year before.

In fact, Oregon’s four-year graduation rate has remained relatively stagnant, around that 81%, the entire time these most recent graduates were in high school.

There has been improvement over time. Since 2013-14, the state’s four-year graduation rate has increased by nearly 10 percentage points. And that 0.6% increase over last year represents about 1,000 more students graduating.

Still, Oregon is far from its goal of having every student graduate.

Some student groups are being hit harder. For example, though the average grad rate for the state has generally held steady, fewer Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students graduated in 2024 than the year prior.

Students in the foster care system increased their graduation rate by four percentage points and reached a record high for that group. However, they still have the second-lowest rate of any student subgroup, with nearly half of them, 49%, not graduating on time.

Students who have been currently or formerly incarcerated have the lowest graduation rate of any student subgroup — only 39% of these kids graduated from high school in four years.

Oregon Department of Education Director Charlene Williams said the progress made in recent years is a sign of grit and care on behalf of the students and their families, lawmakers and educators as they battled ongoing obstacles from the pandemic. But she’s not satisfied with the results yet.

“When we look at [these numbers], how are we saying, you know, ‘Is this even okay?’ And it’s not, right?” Williams said on a press call earlier this week. “We do not want any gaps in our outcomes for students.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/01/30/oregon-graduation-rate-covid-pandemic-trend-little-improvement/