Oregon has the fourth-worst high school graduation rate in the nation, according to

on the topic.

Just 68 percent of Oregon high school students in the class of 2011 earned a diploma in four years, according to data released Monday. Forty-two other states did better, and three were unable to report properly so their rates weren't tallied.

The report revealed that Oregon high schools generate far-above-average dropout rates for students of every racial and ethnic group, including the nation's third-worst graduation rate for African Americans.

No state did as poorly as Oregon when it came to getting white students to earn high school diplomas: Just 70 percent in Oregon's class of 2011 earned a diploma in four years. That compared with far better rates in states such as Wisconsin (91 percent), New Jersey (90 percent) and Tennessee (89 percent).

Oregon's dropout crisis

Worst graduation rates

Four-year graduation rates for the class of 2011

1.

Nevada: 62%

2.

New Mexico: 63%

3.

Georgia: 67%

4. (tie) Oregon

and Alaska:

68%

6.

(tie) Florida and Louisiana: 71%

8.

Alabama: 72%

9.

(tie) Colorado, Michigan and South Carolina: 74%

Oregon rates, by race

White students: 70%, worst in the nation

Latino students: 58%, fourth worst (Minnesota is worst at 51%)

Asian students: 78%, ninth worst (South Dakota is worst, 45%)

African American students: 54%, third worst (Nevada is worst, 43%)

Source: U.S. Department of Education

The report was the most accurate look ever at how many students fail to earn diplomas in four years. Federal law requires that, beginning with the class of 2011, states track every student who enters ninth grade. Under the stringent federal definition, unless a student earns a regular diploma, is documented to have transferred to another school or dies, the student is tallied as a non-graduate.

by the federal government and research institutes suggested Oregon's dropout rate was middle-of-the road. In reality, Oregon is one of only five that failed to graduate at least 70 percent of students on time. Nine states, including Iowa and Indiana, graduated more than 85 percent of their class of 2011 students on time.

"How we rank in the nation is really, truly surprising to me," said Oregon schools chief Rob Saxton. "It is a disappointment and an indicator of how much work we need to do. Your educational attainment is one of your best indicators of your opportunity to be successful, as a person, as a wage earner and as a taxpayer."

Washington state, which had more demanding graduation requirements than Oregon, including that students pass state reading and writing tests, had significantly higher graduation rates, both overall (76 percent) and with every racial and ethnic group.

Saxton said Oregon made sure to be stringent in the technical details of how the rate is defined and measured. Some states may look better than they should because of looser definitions, he said. But he said he doesn't have hard evidence or details.

Federal officials concede there may be small differences in how states define when a student enters high school, what constitutes a transfer to a home school or which diplomas count as regular diplomas. But they say these rates are far more fair to compare from state to state than any in the past.

Oregon's class of 2011 included slightly more than 48,000 students. Of those, roughly 33,300 earned diplomas in four years, 14,900 dropped out and 3,900 enrolled for a fifth year of high school. Those earning diplomas included 719 who earned special education diplomas but were not counted as graduates in the federal government tally.

Among the state's biggest 25 school districts, each with at least 500 students in the class of 2011, the worst on-time graduation rates were in

(48 percent),

(49 percent),

(62 percent),

(62 percent) and

(63 percent).

The highest rates were in

(91 percent),

(89 percent),

(82 percent),

(79 percent) and

(78 percent). That is particularly notable for Hillsboro and Albany, where nearly half of high school students are low-income.

Saxton said Oregon needs to learn what works from states with high graduation rates, and that Oregon districts with poor rates can learn from those such as Hillsboro and Albany.

He said he visited

this fall after seeing its exceptional results: 93 percent of the class of 2011 graduated on time, and Saxton said every student in the class of 2012 earned a diploma.

"You gotta admit that's pretty impressive," he said. "They have some really good work going on, lots of extensions for kids, and they know every kid in that school. ... They just flat say, 'We're not going to let any kid fail.'"

That's important because of the lifetime impact for students who don't earn diplomas, he said.

Saxton was superintendent of Tigard-Tualatin schools for seven years and said he bristled when colleagues boasted about the district's high graduation rate. He thought instead of the 15 percent or more who dropped out of each class.

"I would think about all the kids we don't have at graduation," he said. "It is heartbreaking."

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