Oregon Education: A Comprehensive Look at Rankings, Challenges, and the Path Forward

Oregon's education system is a complex landscape of both opportunities and challenges. While the state boasts dedicated educators and increasing financial investments, student outcomes, as reflected in national rankings and test scores, paint a concerning picture. This article delves into the various facets of Oregon's education system, exploring its rankings, the factors contributing to its current standing, and potential pathways for improvement.

Introduction: The State of Education in Oregon

Oregon's education system is at a crossroads. Despite a significant increase in funding, student achievement has remained stagnant, and in many areas, it has declined. The state now spends more than it ever has on K-12 education, with per-pupil expenditures reaching $17,988 in 2022-23. Recent statewide assessments reveal that average proficiency across all grade levels remain low, with only 42.5% of students proficient in English language arts, 31% in math, and 29.3% in science. Oregonians deserve to see better outcomes for the billions of dollars they spend every year on public education.

Understanding Oregon's Education Rankings

Several organizations provide rankings of state education systems, each using different metrics and methodologies. WalletHub's analysis, for instance, takes a comprehensive approach, accounting for performance, funding, safety, class size, and instructor credentials. Unlike other research that focuses primarily on academic outcomes or school finance, WalletHub’s analysis takes a more comprehensive approach. It accounts for performance, funding, safety, class size and instructor credentials. It is important to consider multiple rankings and their underlying factors to gain a holistic understanding of Oregon's relative position.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Results

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data paints a grim picture of Oregon's education system. The National Center for Education Statistics released results for the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a biennial set of math and reading exams administered to students in grades four and eight. Oregon students scored lower relative to their peers in other states in three of the four exams than they did in 2022. Only in eighth-grade reading did Oregon students gain.

In 2024, the NAEP found that only 31% of fourth graders were at or above proficient in mathematics, performing lower than in 38 states. Only 24% of eighth graders scored at or above proficient in mathematics. Oregon fourth-grade scores ranked 48th in math and 46th in reading. Eighth-grade scores ranked 38th in math and 31st in reading.

The Urban Institute's Recalculation of NAEP Scores

The Urban Institute recalculates NAEP scores for each state to account for student demographics, including poverty, race and native language. The exercise places Oregon last in both fourth-grade exams, 49th in eighth-grade math and 47th in eighth-grade reading.

Other Ranking Metrics

While standardized test scores provide valuable insights, they are not the only measure of a successful education system. Other metrics, such as high school graduation rates, college enrollment, and career readiness, also contribute to a comprehensive assessment.

Factors Contributing to Oregon's Education Challenges

Several interconnected factors contribute to the challenges facing Oregon's education system. These include:

Insufficient Instruction Time

At a Thursday press conference, Stand for Children and ECOnorthwest reported that Oregon students are not receiving enough instruction time, with more than a third missing over three weeks of school annually, thereby contributing to the state’s poor student rankings. Oregon students, on average, receive much less instruction time. "When you aggregate that over a student's K-12 experience, that means Oregon students are on average receiving 195 fewer school days than their peers nationally," said Pope. She says the lack of instructional time is hurting test scores. "If Oregon was to align with the national average on the length of the school year, and we are to cut our rates of chronic absenteeism in half, which would be back to our pre-pandemic levels, we would see significant increases in our NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress] rankings in literacy and in math," Pope said.

Oregon Rep. April Dobson, who represents House District 39, which covers Happy Valley and North Clackamas, explained part of the challenge."Oregon doesn't even establish the required number of instructional hours in law. This is just an administrative rule. We cannot leave a child's education up to chance or zip code," said Rep. Dobson.

Read also: US Education System Performance

Chronic Absenteeism

The two organizations also found that absenteeism is a huge issue, with Oregon having the third-highest rate of chronic absenteeism in the country. Chronic absenteeism is when students miss more than three weeks of school in a year. Rep. Dobson discussed a bill she would like to introduce before the legislature that would help crack down on absenteeism."That bill will improve reporting by districts and the Oregon Department of Education. So we know sooner how many kids are chronically absent, district by district, rather than waiting until the end of the year for that information, when it is too late to intervene. It also puts us in line with national best practice to start counting absences after a student has been enrolled for 10 days because currently we wait 75 days until we start collecting that information," said Rep.

Funding Allocation and Expenditure Patterns

Oregon’s education spending has increased significantly over the past two decades, but student achievement remains stagnant or in decline. Oregon’s K-12 public education system continues to receive more funding year after year even though student achievement has remained stagnant or declined. The majority of the new funding is going toward retirement benefits and administrative expenditures. Classroom instruction now receives a smaller share of school budgets.

As Figure 4 indicates, over the past two decades, operating expenditures per student have more than doubled, rising from $7,494 in 2000-01 to $17,988 in 2022-23. While direct classroom expenditures, activities directly related to student-teacher interaction, including teacher salaries, instructional materials, and classroom activities, have also grown, increasing by 132% over this period, other categories, particularly classroom support and central support, have expanded at a faster rate.

Workforce Expansion and Administrative Costs

Even though student numbers are falling, Oregon’s teacher workforce is growing, rising from 26,750 teachers in 2013-14 to approximately 31,600 in 2023-24.

Over the past decade, Oregon’s K-12 workforce has expanded significantly, but not evenly across all roles. The share of administrators is not only outpacing growth in the number of teachers. Additionally, salaries for administrators have risen at a faster rate than salaries for educators.

Read also: Waterville's Colby College

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The largest single-year decline occurred in 2020-21, with more than 20,000 students leaving the public school system. Oregon has struggled to recover from pandemic-era learning losses. Unlike many states that have implemented targeted interventions to help students regain lost ground, Oregon’s students remain behind pre-pandemic achievement levels.

Initiatives and Potential Solutions

In response to these concerns, Governor Tina Kotek and state lawmakers introduced new accountability measures through House Bill 2009 and Senate Bill 141. These initiatives aim to track student performance more rigorously and improve fiscal responsibility in schools. The legislation includes the addition of two new student success metrics - K-12 regular attendance and 8th-grade math proficiency - that research shows are strong predictors of long-term academic success.

To drive meaningful improvements in student outcomes, policymakers must put a greater emphasis on accountability and strategic investment. Simply increasing funding is not enough.

Addressing Absenteeism

Rep. Dobson discussed a bill she would like to introduce before the legislature that would help crack down on absenteeism."That bill will improve reporting by districts and the Oregon Department of Education. So we know sooner how many kids are chronically absent, district by district, rather than waiting until the end of the year for that information, when it is too late to intervene. It also puts us in line with national best practice to start counting absences after a student has been enrolled for 10 days because currently we wait 75 days until we start collecting that information," said Rep.

Strategic Allocation of Resources

Oregon policymakers must determine whether allocating a growing share of education funding toward administrative costs and support services is helping students. Oregon’s policymakers must reassess how education dollars are allocated in order to ensure that funding prioritizes direct classroom instruction, teacher effectiveness, and proven strategies that drive academic success.

Learning from High-Performing States

Examining the practices and policies of states with top-performing education systems can provide valuable insights for Oregon. For example, Massachusetts is the state with the best school systems, boasting some of the best test scores in the country. Massachusetts also has one of the lowest bullying incidence rates in the country and is considered one of the best states for teachers.

New Jersey has the third-best school systems in the country. It has a dedicated digital learning plan that supports technology integration in education. When it comes to test results, New Jersey has the second-best reading test scores and fifth-best math scores for both fourth and eighth graders.

tags: #oregon #education #ranking #statistics