Some High School Graduates Still Aren’t Prepared for College or a Career

Portland Public Schools’ postsecondary readiness rate, a measure of how prepared graduates are for college or the workforce after high school, continues to lag behind the district’s high school graduation rate.

For the class of 2025, PPS posted an 82.5% graduation rate and a 71.7% postsecondary readiness rate. (In order to be considered ready, students must pass a number of advanced courses, demonstrate success on a standardized test, or complete a career and technical education pathway, among other options.)

PPS saw a slight uptick in readiness for the class of 2025; in 2024, it posted a 69.1% readiness rate. But the gap between graduation and readiness raises additional questions about what an Oregon diploma really means.

High graduation rates in the state have long been an outlier to otherwise sobering data around student proficiency and absenteeism.

In late January, Oregon Department of Education director Dr. Charlene Williams said she was not familiar with the postsecondary readiness measure, but added that grade point average was a “reliable indicator” of success after high school.

PPS officials have another concern they’re eyeing, which is that their graduation rates have decreased over the past couple of years, out of line with state trends.

Dr. Renard Adams, the district’s chief accountability and equity officer, told Portland School Board members on Tuesday night that the district was graduating lower percentages of students of color, while students with disabilities were charting some improvements.

Early analysis of declining rates, Adams said, has concluded that PPS has particular trouble with graduating students who transfer into the district during their high school years who might need additional credits. He added the district is embarking on a mission termed “Project Graduation” to encourage cross-school collaboration and learning to better understand the data.

“It was pretty obvious to us when we got the data. We’re in a three-year decline,” Adams said. “It’s not trending in the right direction, and it signals the need for increased and targeted supports for students and schools.”