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Graduation rates up at every Salem-Keizer high school, mirroring state gains

North Salem High School saw significant gains in 2018 graduation rates. (Salem Reporter files)

Graduation rates are up at every high school in Salem-Keizer, according to state data released Thursday.

Those gains mirror increases across Oregon, where the percentage of students completing high school in four years grew to 78.7 percent.

The state has historically had one of the worst graduation rates in the U.S., though that numbers has been improving steadily. Nationally, about 84 percent of public school students graduated high school in 2016, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Five takeaways from the latest graduation information:

1 – Improved graduation rates

Salem-Keizer went from 73.3 percent of students graduating in 2017 to 76.6 percent in 2018, meaning an additional 188 students got diplomas. The district’s graduation rate remains below the state graduation rate of 78.7 percent, but Salem-Keizer also improved its rate more than the state as a whole.

2 – Biggest gains at two high schools

 The Salem-Keizer high schools that have historically had the lowest graduation rates saw the greatest gains, in part thanks to a district effort to target seniors on the verge of not graduating. At North Salem, nearly 77 percent of seniors graduated, up from 68 percent in 2017. At McKay, the graduation rate went from 73 to 77 percent.

3 – Gaps remain based among key demographics

In Salem-Keizer, just over half of black students and only 58 percent of students with disabilities graduate on time. Migrant and Native American students also have lower graduation rates.

4 – Career and technical education on top

Students enrolled in career and technical education programs and classes graduate at higher rates than nearly any other group of students. In Salem-Keizer, 94 percent of students who completed at least one credit of a career or technical program graduated on time.

5 – English learners still struggle

Students who are learning English in high school have a low chance of graduating on time. In Salem-Keizer, 40 percent of high school English learners earned a diploma in four years. But students who were learning English in elementary or middle school and completed that program before high school had a higher graduation rate than the district as a whole, at 81 percent

(Graphic by Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

Reporter Rachel Alexander: (503) 575-1241 or [email protected]

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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.

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