Today’s release of a new graduation statistic for Oregon schools is a reminder of the progress we are making in the Medford school district.

While the new statistic measures only the percentage of students who graduate within four years, we know that Medford’s schools are steadily increasing the overall share who earn a diploma, even if it takes them a bit longer.  We believe both statistics are important.

Tracking graduation rates has been a special focus for the Medford school district these past five years. Until this year the only measure available to the district was provided by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). That statistic considers all graduates (including those who take more than four years) and considers the number of dropouts in its final calculation.

During the past five years the district has increased its NCES graduation rate to 83.8% -- an improvement of more than 30 percentage points.This is due to a number of factors and decisions by the district and its staff. Using strategic academic interventions and programs that provide additional support for student behavior, the district has seen marked reductions in student discipline referrals and significant increases in student achievement both on state assessment tests and graduation rate. The district has also built partnerships with community agencies like Kids Unlimited, the Maslow Project and the YMCA to keep students involved in healthy community activities.

Our approach is working. The graph below shows the five-year increase for the NCES graduation rate. This includes all graduates—even those who take more than four years to graduate.



The new graduation statistic announced today measures the percentage of students who begin in 9^th grade and graduate in four or fewer years. While this does not include students who take more than four years, it provides a snapshot of student performance that can be useful in considering district efforts to help all students gain an excellent education while meeting rigorous graduation requirements. The state reports that six out of every 10 students who entered a Medford high school in 2005 as a ninth-grader, graduated in four or fewer years. No data has been provided to account for students who take more than four years to complete the diploma requirements.

Our district is committed to preparing all students to graduate with a sound educational foundation, ready to succeed in post-secondary education and to be contributing community members. We will spare no resource to help each student graduate in four years. At the same time, we will not give up on a student even when they need a little more time and support to complete the diploma requirements. This commitment is paying off for Medford students, their families, and our community, as our student success rate continues to improve each year.