many graduates.JPG

(Randy L. Rasmussen / The Oregonian / 2015)

Oregon's graduation rate rose 1 percentage point with the class of 2016, a disappointingly modest increase given the state's No. 48 national ranking, the state reported Thursday.

Oregon graduation rate

class of class of class of

2014 2015 2016

72% 74% 75%

The slight increase means 75 percent of students earned diplomas within four years. The nation's top states manage to graduate 90 percent of their students.

But Oregon schools achieved record or near-record improvement among students who traditionally have struggled to get to the finish line -- students of color, students with disabilities, low-income students and those for whom English is a second language. Graduation rates for black students, special education students and non-native English speakers surged by 3 to 4 percentage points.

On the flip side, graduation rates barely budged for four groups that historically have shown the greatest success at earning diplomas on time: girls, whites, Asians and students who are not low-income.

The 1 percent rise overall means an additional 460 Oregon students earned diplomas.

Gov. Kate Brown said she is "particularly heartened to see significant gains in student groups that have had the largest graduation gaps."

Oregon's graduation rate of 74 percent for the class of 2015 was third-worst in the nation, trailing the national average by nearly 10 percentage points and beating only Nevada and New Mexico. Most states have yet to release their 2016 rates.

A familiar cluster of super-star Oregon high schools continued to post graduation rates, including among low-income students, that put them in a league above the rest. The Albany, McMinnville and Woodburn school districts once again led the way on helping nearly all students earn diplomas in four years. Oregon City and the Central school district, which serves Monmouth and Independence, both registered big improvements, putting their results among tops in the state as well.

At the other end of the spectrum, 16 districts failed to get even 60 percent of their students to earn diplomas in four years. Reynolds graduated 59 percent of its students; Reedsport, 53 percent; and Fern Ridge, 52 percent.

Most districts with extremely low graduation rates make money offering an online version of high school. Those schools typically attract a large share of students who are already behind in making progress toward graduation. But the programs rarely accomplish turnarounds. North Bend, for example, hosts the state's second-largest online charter school, Oregon Virtual Academy, which graduated just 28 percent of its 223 students in the class of 2016 on time.

Schools and districts that achieved some of the best rates in the state credited similar approaches and techniques for their success. They carefully track student absences, behavior and grades and intervene quickly when trouble signs arise. They put a premium on establishing close and caring relationships with students. They help teachers get the skills they need to make lessons engaging to teens. They find workable ways to help students catch up when they fall behind in credits.

"It starts with who is in front of our kids. I focus on hiring the best people," said Darin Barnard, principal of Tualatin High, where the graduation rate rose to 94 percent this year, helped by a surge among students with disabilities and those who learned English as a second language.

He said his district has tried to give teachers the tools they need to reach diverse students, including the school's growing population of Latinos and students in poverty. It also tries to help teachers effectively tailor lessons to special education students, whom Tigard-Tualatin include in mainstream classes to the maximum extent possible.

"When we are up there teaching, we're considering all of the kids who are in front of us," Barnard said.

State schools chief Salam Noor said Thursday he is "encouraged" by the results, despite the modest overall improvement, in large part because of the big gains for most groups that historically dropped out at high rates.

Noor also acknowledged Oregon must make more progress.

"We must continue to invest in efforts that are proven to engage students and keep them motivated to graduate, and pursue further education and training, or start a career," he said.

Principals at some schools that had low or declining graduation rates, either overall or among certain groups, said it is important to dig deeply to figure out what barriers derailed students. That knowledge is essential to improve outcomes for future graduation classes, they said.

At Newberg High, only 57 percent of students who started out in English as a second language classes earned diplomas in four years, a slight drop from the previous year. In all, 50 Newberg students dropped out.

That was a disappointment, said the school's new principal, Kyle Laier, because the Newberg school district is making a huge push to help all students succeed. Some groups, including low-income students and students with disabilities graduated at significantly higher rates, he noted. But more work remains, according to Laier.

He has begun talking with second-language students and some of their parents to learn what goes wrong so the school can do better. The school's new center that assists freshmen and seniors catch up on lost credits helped raise the school's graduation rate by 3 percentage points for the class of 2016, he said. The school also hired a new dropout prevention coordinator. The interim principal who led the school last year instituted those changes, Laier said. They are having an even bigger impact this school year, he said.

With his having taken the helm at Newberg High last fall, the school has its fourth administration in four years, a rocky situation for any school. He has instituted an early warning system like the ones most successful schools use to identify and reach out to students as soon as they show spotty attendance or other warning signs.

"We meet with them to identify barriers and work with them to get them here," he said. "It's not punitive. It's very individualized problem-solving to help them."

Madison High in Northeast Portland has come a long way since the percentage of its students who earned diplomas ranged from the low 50s to the low 60s around 2010. The school's on-time graduation rate has since climbed to the mid-70s.

But as was true statewide, Madison's rate improved only marginally this year, to 74 percent, and Principal Petra Callin says she and her faculty are realizing even tougher work lies ahead.

The school has created systems that work to get nearly all students who arrive at Madison as freshmen college-ready and diploma-equipped in four years.

But she said her school, like others, has yet to figure out a way to turn around students who arrive as sophomores, juniors and seniors already far off track.

Statistics show that highly mobile students face significant challenges to graduating on time. Schools like Madison get more than their share of them.

Like the principal at Newberg High, Callin and key members of her staff are trying to learn more about exactly where and why students fell short so they can design a better path.

"There is far more to learn from going back and taking those particular students and understanding more from their transcripts and their experiences, what impacted them," she said. Schools have to be more flexible and more supportive to help students who've shuffled between high schools reach the finish line, she said.

"So we're in a cool spot, figuring out together how we think outside the box and be more flexible to support these kids into finishing up here," Callin said. "I care about the end game. The end game is to get all kids graduated, to get all kids prepared to do what they are passionate about in this life."

-- Betsy Hammond

betsyhammond@oregonian.com

@chalkup