Too many Oregon schools do not adequately serve students of color, students from low-income families or students with special needs. Our schools must do better for all children – preparing all of them for college, work and citizenship.
Only half of Oregon high school sophomores meet or exceed state standards for reading and math. Looking more closely at the data, African American and Latino students score far worse: only about 25% meet state standards in reading, and only 20% meet math standards. Students from low-income families fare only slightly better. High school completion rates are also significantly lower for students of color; the one-year dropout rate for Latino and African-American youth is roughly twice the state average (and well over twice the rate of white students).
Percent of students meeting state benchmarks in reading
Percent of students meeting state benchmarks in math
In another measure of Oregon’s high school performance, the Oregon Department of Education rated 365 schools, including almost all of the state’s large high schools, as failing to make “Adequate Yearly Progress”—a benchmark that sets high standards for performance for schools as a whole and for traditionally challenged student groups within the school systems. The majority of these schools had acceptable overall achievement, but got their designation because performance lagged among one or more groups: Latino, African American, low-income or special education students. This underscores the urgency to improve our schools by raising expectations for all students and, more importantly, providing the necessary support they need to succeed.
Why should you care? Meeting 10th grade benchmarks is a bell-weather for how prepared students are for college. As jobs increasingly require postsecondary degrees, Oregon’s economy will not thrive if we leave so many students behind. But besides concerns for the state’s economic future, providing quality education is just the right thing to do. All students—not just some—deserve a rigorous academic experience and the opportunity to achieve to their highest potential.
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