What Does it Mean to be ‘On-Track to Graduate’?
This school success accountability indicator measures the percentage of first-time high school freshmen who earned at least 25% of their total graduation credits by the beginning of their sophomore year. In the 2013-14 school year, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) began collecting data on 9th grade “on-track to graduate” status. In the 2019-20 school year, over 85% of 9th graders were on-track to graduate. Oregon’s goal is that 95% of all 9th grade students would reach on-track to graduate status by the 2024-25 school year.
Why is Being ‘On-Track to Graduate’ Important?
Initial ODE research on 9th grade on-track status shows negative associations between students who are off-track to graduate and multiple education outcomes. For example, an ODE study of 11th grade assessments in 2015-16 showed that on-track students met the English Language Arts standards at nearly twice the rate of students who were off-track. On-track students met math standards at more than 5 times the rate of students who were off-track.
Additionally, a preliminary ODE study showed that on-track students were more than twice as likely to graduate within 4 years as their off-track peers, after adjusting for demographic factors. Graduation rates vary for on-track students in different demographic groups. For instance, on-track graduation rates are below the overall average for economically disadvantaged students (86.2%), English learners (81.6%), and students identified as American Indian/Alaska Native (82.9%).
The relationship between students who are off-track and decreased education outcomes suggests that this measure could be an important early factor to identify students needing additional education supports. Similarly, on-track students with certain characteristics may need additional or specifically targeted supports to increase their likelihood of graduating high school.
To learn more about the 9th Grade On-Track to Graduate data presented here, check out our Technical Dictionary.
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Resources
To learn more about 9th Grade On-Track to Graduate, please visit the Oregon Department of Education:
Please remember the following
- OCID only includes children born in Oregon since 2001; ideally, the dataset will be expanded over time to represent all of the children in Oregon.
- To display race and ethnicity categories consistently across multiple data sources, OCID currently combines information from vital statistics, education, Medicaid, and child welfare records. Visit our Race and Ethnicity Data Overview to learn more.
- The Dashboard shows descriptive data, not causal relationships. In depth analyses are needed to understand why disparities or trends occur. OCID’s targeted analyses shed light on policy questions prioritized by the Governance Committee.
For more information about the details and limitations of the data, please visit our Technical Dictionary and Dataset Overview.
Ready to explore the data?
Use the interactive display below to discover how characteristics collected by state programs vary among groups of children with different well-being outcomes.
Data are a starting point for understanding children’s experiences; they do not fully describe an individual’s identity or experience.
Want to dive deeper?
Explore the interactive display below to investigate potential trends or disparities among groups of children with the same well-being outcome.
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Suggested citation: Center for Evidence-based Policy, Oregon Health & Science University. 9th Grade On-Track to Graduate dashboard. Oregon Child Integrated Dataset (OCID) website. https://www.ocid-cebp.org/outcome/3163/. Published [inserted ‘display updated’ date].
The Center for Evidence-based Policy partners with the Center for Health Systems Effectiveness, also at Oregon Health & Science University, on dashboard analytics.