The Philomath School District received encouraging news out of this week’s release of graduation data by the Oregon Department of Education. As has been typical over the years, Philomath graduated students on time at a much-higher rate than the state average.
The 2022-23 four-year graduation rate for the school district came in at 86.0%, nearly five percentage points higher than the state average of 81.3%.
But it was the Philomath High School numbers that really popped.
Among students who started high school in the 2019-20 academic year, 95.4% graduated PHS in four years with a regular or modified diploma. It’s the highest graduation rate seen at the local high school in several years and perhaps ever. Over the past 13 years, the graduation rate was as low as 75.2% in 2011-12 and reached 92.1% in 2018-19, the previous high before this year’s data.
Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday said a lot of work has been done in all corners since the end of the pandemic to positively impact the end result for students.
“Looking specifically at Philomath High School, we put a lot of resources into data teams at the school, professional learning communities … really looking hard at all grade levels but especially working for those students in their freshman year who are on track to meet graduation requirements,” Halliday said. “That’s one of those measures of success — if you’re on track at the end of your ninth-grade year, the likelihood is greater than you’re going to stay on track to be able to get that diploma.”
Halliday gave a lot of credit to teachers for the high mark.
“They put a lot of work into their Friday afternoon professional learning activities, really looking at individual students and being able to find ways to encourage those who are credit deficient,” she said.
Oregon graduation rate holds steady for second year following slight COVID dip
Despite beginning high school during a global pandemic, Oregon’s class of 2023 maintained a relatively high on-time graduation rate, and some groups set new records. More than 37,000 Oregon students graduated in 2023, 81.3% of the class, according to Oregon Department of Education data published Thursday. That rate tied that of the class of 2022…
Four-year graduation rates have improved statewide from 72% in 2013-14 to 81.3% in 2022-23, averaging about 1.1 percentage points higher each year.
“It’s really important to recognize that this Class of 2023, which entered school in the fall of 2019, were in ninth grade when COVID pandemic hit,” Jon Wiens, the Oregon Department of Education’s Reporting, Accountability and Data director, said Tuesday during an online meeting with media. “So they’ve endured the full, multi-year impact of the pandemic on their learning.”
Halliday said positive graduation rates across the Philomath district have been consistent in recent years.
“I look at the work that has gone into credit acquisition and making sure we’re looking at an individual student level about where they are in relation to their credits,” Halliday said. “Even to a point of being able to say, ‘does every student have a positive, caring adult in their world somewhere?’ And let’s have that positive, caring adult somewhere be able to make sure they’re making contact and they’re making sure that a student is on track.”
Philomath High’s four-year graduation rate improved from 6.2% from the previous academic year. The five-year graduation rate for PHS was 91.5%.
“That speaks highly to me of the work they’ve done in being able to really focus in on those students throughout the year who have been credit deficient and helped them to be able to crest over that edge,” Halliday said.
A similar feel emerges with the Philomath Academy four-year graduation numbers, which have increased from 51.5% in 2021-22 to 63.0% in 2022-23.
“They’ve really been pushing to be able to make those things happen,” Halliday said.
Kings Valley Charter School’s four-year graduation rate came in at 57.1% but those numbers often mask the positives because class sizes on the rural campus are so small, which can skew percentages.
Beyond traditional graduation rates — which includes students who earned a regular or modified diploma in four or five years — Halliday also pays close attention to what the ODE refers to as “completer” rates. Those are students who earned GED, adult high school or extended high school diplomas.
“When I look at completer, if I walk out with something, we’re looking at pretty healthy, healthy numbers,” Halliday said.
The district’s completer rate came in at 95.0% for four years and 92.1% for five years.
