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ODE Research and Data Briefs

Click on the plus sign (+) next to each title for more information on that research topic.

Read the Post-Graduation Planning brief.​

 This brief examines the post-graduation planning construct in the SEED survey.

 Key takeaways:

  • Students are most likely to report interest in employment, and least likely to report interest in military service.
  • There are large gaps between the proportion of students who are interested in postsecondary enrollment and the proportion that enrolls, and those gaps vary substantially by student group.
  • Students who were on-track to graduate in 9th grade are much more likely to be interested in 4-year college.
  • Students who reported more opportunities to connect classwork to careers were also more likely to be interested in many of the post-graduation plans.
  • Students who report higher sense of belonging are more likely to be interested in pursuing a degree at a 4-year college.

 Published in February 2025 by Isabella Jacoby and Angie Foster-Lawson.

Read the Key Data Points for Students Experiencing Foster Placement brief.​

This research brief provides a brief i​ntroduction to the Oregon foster care system and presents longitudinal post-COVID data that illustrate foster student demographics and academic indicators, special education identification, and separation from peers. It presents data that show that students who identify as American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, and LGBTQ2SIA+ are disproportionately represented among Oregon students in foster care, and that students who experience foster placement also experience reduced academic outcomes compared to their peers as well as higher rates of special education identification, exclusionary discipline, alternative school attendance, juvenile justice contact, and houselessness.

 Published in February 2025 by Stephanie Evers and Isabella Jacoby.

Students Navigating Housing Instability Series

Brief 1: Students Navigating Housing Instability: Education Overview 

This brief examines trends, demographics, and outcomes for students navigating housing instability.

Key Takeaways:

  • Demographic disparities exist among students identified as navigating housing instability.
  • While around 3% of Oregon public school students are identified as navigating housing instability in any given school year, more than 10% have been identified at least once during their K-12 educational career.
  • Students navigating housing instability are eligible for a range of additional supports and services as part of the McKinney-Vento Act;  however, persistent gaps in outcome measures for these students suggest that additional supports are needed.
  • Measures of relocation are a good proxy measure to identify students in need of additional supports, who have not yet been formally identified.

Published in August 2024 by Isabella Jacoby, Marisa Molnar and Alesia Valdez.

Brief 2: Understanding the Formal Identification of Houselessness as a Culmination of Stressors

Housing instability can present many challenges to academic success. However, given that houselessness and housing instability are rarely isolated events in a student's life, this brief seeks to understand how much of those impacts can be attributed to broader stressors in a student's life, which both impact the student's academic performance and eventually result in a formal identification of navigating housing instability. 

Key Takeaways:

  • Houselessness and housing instability should be considered a culmination of a series of domestic and economic stressors over the course of multiple years, rather than an isolated calamity, for many students.
  • The impact of these economic and domestic stressors may emerge for students multiple years before the formal identification of housing instability, in assessment, attendance, and on-track data.
  • While re-housing students and families is important and necessary, it is likely not sufficient to address the full scope of these stressors. Additional interventions will be needed in most cases.

 Published in August 2024 by Jennifer Bevers, Tom George and Isabella Jacoby.

Brief 3: “Whatever we need to do for them": A case study of McKinney-Vento service providers at four Oregon school districts

This brief utilizes surveys to McKinney-Vento liaisons and interviews with district and school staff to understand what supports they provide, how those supports are accessed, and what barriers continue to exist to support students.

 Key Takeaways:

  • Districts provide considerable services to address immediate challenges. Longer-term supports are more likely to be addressed by referring students to outside resources.
  • Many districts rely heavily on individual staff members to connect externally to resources and internally to students, families, and staff in schools. These responsibilities often pull support providers in opposite directions.
  • Districts with less access to resources or community support often rely directly on staff members, which is likely to lead to burnout and potential risk of losing staff.
  • Statewide, many of the barriers identified in providing and accessing supports can be attributed to systemic barriers and a lack of systemic supports.

 Published in January 2025 by Marisa Molnar and Richard Bargielski

Brief 4: Students Navigating Housing Instability Research Series: Summary and Resources

This brief offers a summary of the series and a list of resources available for additional information and support.

 Published in January 2025 by Tom George and Alesia Valdez

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the University of Oregon (UO) have been funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to investigate the efficacy of Oregon's high school success initiative that was passed under state ballot Measure 98. The primary objective of the project is to evaluate the short- and longer-term impact of 9th grade student success team investments on the 9th grade on track to graduation (9G-OTG) readiness of Oregon students.

In November 2016, Oregon's ballot Measure 98 passed with strong voter support, initiating the state's High School Success (HSS) fund. Measure 98 allowed ODE to allocate more than $150 million dollars across approximately 200 districts for high school success efforts. Across the state, many districts and schools used HSS funds to develop and implement 9th grade student success teams to improve 9G-OTG outcomes. Researchers from the UO are now collaborating with their colleagues at ODE to investigate whether implementation of the HSS initiative increased 9G-OTG rates initially and over time with respect to COVID-19 disruptions.

The materials posted here are designed share what the project team has found to date.   

Did You Know (DYK)?  

One-page summaries intended to highlight a key aspect or finding from the project.

Success Teams and the Pre- and Post- COVID-19 On-Track to Graduation Status of Students in Oregon

Glossary of Did You Know (DYK) Terms

Select Conference Presentations : Research findings presented at national conferences.

American Educational Research Association

 Zvoch, K., Loan, C. M., & Scalise, K. (2024, April). Student success teams and on-track to graduation status in Oregon: An interrupted time series analysis.

American Evaluation Association

Zvoch, K., Loan, C. M., & Scalise, K. (2023, October). Identifying implementation and subgroup effects with ML methods in a statewide intervention.

NCES STATS-DC Data Conference, Managing the Data Highway

Scalise, K., Zvoch, K., Loan, C. M., Guha, A., & Farley, D. (2023, August). A study in equity: Oregon's ninth grade transition.

Reference
A Study in Equity: Oregon's Ninth Grade Transition. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Educational Sciences (IES, CFDA 84.305S, R305S210005). Daniel Farley, Principal Investigator; Kathleen Scalise and Keith Zvoch, Co-Principal Investigators.

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305S210005 awarded to the Oregon Department of Education. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Read the Extracurricular Participation and Barriers brief.

This brief examines data from the Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey on student access to and participation in extracurricular activities.

Key Takeaways:

  • Only around half of students surveyed reported participating in school-sponsored extracurricular activities.
  • While most students reported having opportunities to participate, most reported their barrier to participation was or included a lack of interesting or relevant options. 
  • Some students  did not participate in extracurricular activities because they did not feel welcome or safe engaging. Students expressed a desire to be invited to participate, rather than just allowed to join. 
  • Participation in extracurricular activities is correlated with higher attendance rates and increased sense of belonging. 
  • Students with disabilities reported less access to school-sponsored activities and events.

Published in February 2024 by Lisa Joy Bateman, Isabella Jacoby, Beth LaDuca, Caitlin McRae, and Kathryn Torres.

Read the Connection to Outcomes brief.

This brief examines how students’ sense of belonging in schools correlates with attendance and 9th grade on-track outcome measures, using sense of belonging data from the Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey.

Key Takeaways:

  • There is a strong positive relationship between sense of belonging and attendance rates across grade levels.
  • A similar relationship exists with ninth grade on-track rates, with the same four indicators again showing stronger associations. 
  • Having a caring adult at school is a strong protective factor for both attendance and credit attainment, even when other sense of belonging indicators are absent. 
  • There are students with a strong negative response to questions about sense of belonging, and these students have substantially lower rates of credit attainment and regular attendance.

Published in October 2023 by Isabella Jacoby.

Read the Predictive Factors brief

This brief explores findings on the relationship between student demographics and experiences, including experiences of exclusionary discipline, and sense of belonging data from the Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey.

Key Takeaways:

  • Sense of belonging is positively connected to both the experience of learning and the outcomes of learning.
  • There are demographic inequities in student sense of belonging, including by gender. Students typically report less sense of belonging on most measures as they increase in grade level. 
  • Exclusionary discipline is strongly correlated with a reduced sense of belonging. 
  • Student sense of belonging is strongly related to measures of social identity within the school.

Published in July 2023 by Isabella Jacoby, Jennifer Bevers, Marisa Molnar and Dany Douglas.

Read the In Their Own Words brief.

This brief analyzes student responses from the Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey to “Is there anything else about your school you would like to share?” Students shared feelings of belonging or disconnection, described ways they could be better served in terms of both academics and mental health, and gave us a window into their experiences in school and what they would need in order to feel safe, comfortable, and supported.

​Published in May 2023 by Isabella Jacoby, Beth LaDuca, Mason Rivers, Juliana Pacicco, and Steve Slater. 

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Read the Summer Seed Survey Report.

The following report highlights the results of the Student Voice, Summer Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey. The aim of this report is to amplify student voice statewide in order to meet the strengths and needs of students and responsively improve summer learning opportunities.

Published in March 2023 by the Summer Learning team​.

Read the Falling Enrollment During the COVID-19 Pandemic brief.

This brief examines trends in student enrollment leading up to and through the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to understand and explore the significant enrollment declines during that time period.

Key Takeaways:

  • Oregon public school enrollment dropped substantially during the first year of the pandemic (2020) and has continued to decline. 
  • Declines in enrollment are concentrated among white students and kindergarteners. 
  • There was no evidence to suggest that students moving from Oregon to Idaho was a significant factor in enrollment changes, but data indicate substantial increases in homeschooling within Oregon.
  • Some Oregon districts experienced enrollment increases during this period, largely connected to the operation of virtual schools.
  • Virtual programs are expanding in Oregon.

Published in December 2022 by Isabella Jacoby and Robin Stalcup.

Read the Why NAEP is important for Oregon brief.

This brief summarizes how the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides Oregon with valuable information not available from other sources. 

Key Takeaways:

  • NAEP has been a stable measure of student achievement since 1990
  • NAEP is the only source of comparable achievement data from all 50 states
  • NAEP informs educators, policymakers, parents and the public about the rigor of Oregon’s expectations for students.

​Published in October 2022 by Beth LaDuca.

Read the Algebra I Repetition: Predictive Factors brief.

The purpose of this brief is to investigate and describe what we know about Oregon students who repeat Algebra I. This brief looks closely at the data that helps us understand when a student is most likely to repeat the course and other predictive factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of repeating the course.

Key Takeaways:

  • Students who repeat Algebra I are significantly less likely to earn an Oregon diploma within four years of entering high school, and are more likely to earn a modified diploma or not graduate. 
  • Starting Algebra I before high school is strongly associated with repeating Algebra I. The effect varies by math assessment score, but remains significant even at fairly high score levels. 
  • Algebra I repetition is more common among certain disadvantaged groups.

Published in September 2022 by Isabella Jacoby.

Read the Community-Informed Recommendations for Equitable Graduation Outcomes brief.

This legislative report starts with a review of Oregon’s current diploma requirements. Next, there is a national scan of diploma policies, followed by a summary of ODE’s statewide engagement approach and findings. Finally, an analysis of graduation data provides the lead-in to the recommendations for proposed changes to diploma requirements. Representative quotations from participants in the engagement process are provided in blue text boxes throughout. Through synthesis of the information gathered during this process, ODE made two determinations and developed eight recommendations for the Legislature and Oregon State Board of Education to consider.

Published in September 2022.

Read the Students on Section 504 Plans brief.

This brief provides an analysis of the demographics, experiences, performance, and challenges facing students served through Section 504 plans, in an effort to assist districts and schools in identifying and addressing the needs of this group of students with disabilities.

  • Section 504 plans are disproportionately used for white students, non-binary students, and students who are not emerging bilinguals. 
  • Better support may be needed to provide continuity of service for students on Section 504 plans across inter-district transfers. 
  • Students on Section 504 plans experience disproportionately high rates of exclusionary discipline and chronic absenteeism, and are less likely to earn enough 9th grade credits to be on-track to graduate, but have similar overall graduation rates to students without these plans. 
  • Students served through Section 504 plans have higher TAG and accelerated coursework participation than students with disabilities served through IEPs.

Published in May 2022 by Isabella Jacoby.

Participation in College-Level Coursework

This brief examines trends and geographic distributions for access to AP and IB coursework.

Published in March 2022 by Isabella Jacoby.

Read the Impact of High School Success on CTE Programs and Enrollment brief.

This brief examines trends in career and technical education (CTE) program offerings and enrollments, before and after the implementation of High School Success.

Published in September 2021 by ​Isabella Jacoby.

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Read the Predictors of On-Time High School Graduation brief.

This brief presents new analysis of the relationship between the 9th grade on-track measure, on-time (4-year) high school graduation rates, and other predictive factors in early high school grades, using the records of more than 130,000 Oregon students across three graduating cohorts to assist in identifying areas in need of additional supports. 

Key Takeaways:

  • Being on-track in 9th grade is strongly predictive of on-time graduation.
  • Regular attendance, course enrollment, mobility, and discipline are also important predictors of graduation.
  • Many important factors have stronger predictive power as a secondary indicator, among students who were not ontrack in 9th grade. 

Published in August 2021 by Isabella Jacoby.

ODE/OSU Research Partnership

The ODE/OSU English Language Learner Partnership brings together researchers and practitioners from the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon State University to improve education for ELLs in Oregon.

Read the Trauma-Informed Practices brief.

This report, jointly drafted by Oregon’s Chief Education Office (CEdO) and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), presents findings from the three-year Trauma-informed pilot study. The report focuses on the factors that promoted or impeded the process of implementation, such as organizational capacity, shifts in adults’ beliefs and practices, and communication strategies. 

Published in October 2019.

Read the Student Mobility in Graduation brief.​

This brief shows the relationship between mobility and high school outcomes, and how certain groups of students are more likely to be mobile.

Published in June 2018 by Isabella Jacoby

Read the Freshman On-Track and Junior Year Outcomes brief.​

This brief contains data on the impact of 9th grade on-track measures on a student's 11th grade assessment performance and likelihood of dropping out.

Published in March 2017 by Isabella Jacoby

Read the Virtual Schools brief.​

This brief contains data on the demographics of students attending virtual schools, and a summary of outcome data.

Published in December 2016 by Isabella Jacoby

Read the Dropout Indicators brief.

This brief contains data on the impact of 9th grade chronic absenteeism and 9th grade on-track measures on a student's likelihood of dropping out in 10th grade. Students with both risk indicators were more than 36 times as likely as students with neither indicator to drop out in 10th grade.

Published in April 2016 by Isabella Jacoby

Read the Fourth-Year Non-Completers brief.​

A majority of Oregon's cohort non-completers, non-continuers were last enrolled during their fourth year of high school. This brief contains data on the enrollment history of those students.

Published in April 2016 by Isabella Jacoby

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