Oregon’s High School Class of 2020: Foundational Analyses

The Class of 2020 represents OCID’s first opportunity to fully examine available state data on the lifespan of students from birth to graduation age in 2020. Two products, a policy brief and an infographic, represent the start in a series of forthcoming resources about 4-year high school graduation, one measure of educational success.

In addition to gaining insight into the challenges and opportunities in the lifespan of the class of 2020,  the policy brief includes examination of equity characteristics and connections across multiple publicly funded programs, particularly in the areas of housing instability, income insecurity, and educational outcomes. The infographic identifies certain characteristics that are particularly strong predictors of graduating high school in 4 years.

Together these products set the foundation for building a deeper understanding of the class of 2020, provide context for in-depth analyses, and aim to spark additional areas of potential inquiry for OCID.

Highlighted Key Findings

Below is a selection of key observations from the Class of 2020 foundational analyses including information about the graduation rates for students with indicators of potential income insecurity and the top barriers to 4-year graduation. For full results, please see the complete products.

2020 High School Graduation Rates by Student and Family Characteristics
Four-year graduation rates of students in the 2020 class by indicators of potential exposure to income insecurity.

Bar chart showing graduation rates for students with indicators of potential income instability

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Students ever enrolled in TANF (8,360 students), representing the greatest level of income insecurity in this analysis, had a graduation rate of 62%.
    • Students ever enrolled in SNAP, which has a higher income eligibility than TANF, had a graduation rate of 73%.
  • Among the student and family characteristics explored, only students born to a parent with 4 or more years of college education graduated at higher-than-average rates (92% compared with 81%, respectively).

Strongest Predictors of 4-Year High School Graduation
After controlling for a variety of student and family characteristics.

OCID analysis isolated characteristics of the Class of 2020 that were particularly strong predictors of graduating high school in 4 years.

Severe chronic absenteeism, midyear school transitions, and juvenile justice contact were the top 3 barriers identified, after controlling for other factors.

Graphic showing select predictors for graduating high school in 4-years. Students who ever experienced severe chronic absenteeism had a 35% lower chance of graduating within 4 years. Students contacting the juvenile justice system were 16% less likely and students ever changing schools midyear were 9% less likely.

Any disproportionality between personal characteristics and graduation rate does not imply that the characteristics caused the outcome or that there is a biological basis for differences between groups, but rather could suggest that structural bias and subjectivity underlying the program, process, or its criteria contribute to differences.

Related OCID Resources

OCID’s Race and Ethnicity Methodology

Read more about OCID’s methodology to consistently report race and ethnicity information across data sources and to select information for individuals when there are multiple options within and across points in time.

Students Enrolled in Oregon’s Public Alternative Education Schools

Bar chart showing students in alt ed schools with IEPs by race/ethnicity

Read the policy brief to learn about students enrolled in public alternative education schools and potential disparities in educational outcomes by equity components.

9th Grade On-Track Dashboard

Screen shot of 9th grade on-track to graduate dashboard

Explore our 9th Grade On-Track indicator to investigate potential trends or disparities among groups of children.