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By YachatsNews and Oregon Capital Chronicle
Students in the Lincoln County School District’s class of 2024, who started high school online during the Covid pandemic, surpassed expectations and graduated at a rate slightly higher than 2023’s seniors and significantly higher than predicted four years ago.
Data released Thursday by the Oregon Department of Education showed that 82 percent of Lincoln County seniors graduated last June – an increase of two percentage points over the 2023 rate.
The district’s overall graduation rate in 2024 – while ranging from 77 percent to nearly 93 percent across six schools – was the same as Oregon’s overall rate, which was the second highest in state history, according to the ODE’s report.
At the start of the pandemic, less than 74 percent of Oregon’s students were on track to graduate in four years, according to the state.
Because of the small size of four of Lincoln County’s high schools, the difference in a handful of students not graduating can make a big difference in the percentages. For example, the Waldport High School graduation rate in 2022-23 was nearly 97 percent because of one dropout. But last school year, 41 of 53 seniors graduated – for a much lower rate of 77.4 percent.
Newport High School had a 2024 graduation rate of 92.6 percent when 137 of a class of 148 received diplomas – compared with an 82 percent rate in 2023.
While the state and district data measured graduation rates across sex, race, poverty, disabilities, learning English, and homelessness and other categories, some general themes in Lincoln County schools included:
- Girls graduate at a higher rate than boys;
- Students enrolled in career and technical education programs had graduation rates at or above 95 percent;
- Students still learning English graduated at a rate of 86.2 percent compared with the state average of 68 percent; and
- Hispanic/Latino students had a graduation rate of 87.6 percent compared with a state average of 82.9 percent.
Many improvements
Local and state officials praised the 2024 graduation results.
“Our high school graduation data is a testament to the hard work our students, staff, families and communities are doing to support our students throughout their K-12 experience in Lincoln County,” Aaron Belloni, director of secondary education for the Lincoln County School District said in a news release Thursday. “I am especially proud of the systems and processes that exist within our high schools to help students start high school strong and remain on track to graduate as they progress from freshmen to seniors.”
Oregon Department of Education director Charlene Williams said in a statement that students and staff overcame “all the obstacles that Covid-19 threw in their path.”
“We are seeing results, but we know much more needs to be done so that every child is set up for success, not only to find their path to graduation, but to thrive in their educational experience.”
Oregon’s class of 2024 included about 38,700 students — about 1,000 more graduates than the class of 2023, which boasted about an 81% graduation rate. The rate has not budged much or only made small gains since the pandemic, and it is still below that of the pre-pandemic class of 2019. In that class, 85 percent of students graduated on time, marking a high for Oregon.
The 2024 graduation rate ticked up despite state and national assessment tests showing Oregon students are struggling to make progress in key subjects and rebound from achievement losses from the pandemic. That class also had some of the worst attendance rates in the state’s recent history.
About one-third of Oregon students missed at least 16 days out of 160 or more days during the 2023-24 school year and were considered “chronically absent.” Before the pandemic, about 20% of students were considered chronically absent.
Williams said assessment tests and attendance data tell only part of the picture.
Over the last decade, the state has seen a growing number of students across all racial and ethnic categories enroll in Advanced Placement courses, with more of those students earning high and college credit-worthy scores on AP exams. There has also been an increase in the number of students enrolled in Career and Technical Education classes. Those students tend to have the highest graduation rate in the state — around 98 percent of them graduated on time in 2024.
English-language learners, special education students and students in foster care also achieved some of the biggest gains in graduation rates in 2024.
Students for whom English is not a first language graduated at higher rates — nearly 88 percent — when they completed an English-language learner program before entering high school, the data found.
Overall, the state’s graduation rate in 2024 was nearly 10 percentage points higher than it was in 2014.
“This news is about resilience and dedication,” Gov. Tina Kotek said in a news release. “I’m proud of the class of 2024 and the educators and parents who didn’t give up on students.”
- Oregon Capital Chronicle is a nonprofit Salem-based news service that focuses its reporting on Oregon state government, politics and policy.
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