Students across Southern Oregon and Northern California are preparing to go back to school.
But there’s news tonight that doesn’t look good for many high school graduates.
According to the college test the ACT, only about a quarter of grads in the United States passed benchmarks in english, reading, math and science and are ready for college.
In Oregon, about 30% of students are prepared for college.
“It’s probably a fairly accurate number,” said Todd Bloomquist, the Director of Secondary Education at the Medford School District.
Oregon’s students are doing a bit better than others across the nation.
“There’s lots of factors certainly, the fact we’ve been doing standardized assessments for so long, the fact that we have work sample assessments as well.”
But for some groups the percentage of college-ready grads is lower. 13% of African Americans and 15% of Hispanic students met three or more of the ACT’s benchmarks. They’re indicators that some people say point to racial disparity.
“Is that a factor Absolutely. There are subpopulations that have historically not done well that is a focus for us. One of our goals is closing that achievement gap,” said Bloomquist.
On the other hand, 53% of Whites and 54% of Asian people in Oregon met three or more of the benchmarks.
But in the end, as a state, we’re still not making the cut.
“It’s a relentless pursuit of all kids getting to that grade level and that benchmark.”
School officials are hoping newer, more rigorous testing and standards this upcoming year will mean more high school grads prepared for college.
Todd Bloomquist said while the ACT is an indicator, it’s also important to remember that it’s a snapshot of how a student performed on a particular day.
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