School Information

Oregon School Comparison Tools and Information:   

Oregon Department of Education (ODE) Home Page   

ODE Tool – Compare Two Districts Side by Side   

School Report Cards                

Frequently Asked Questions About Scoring   

Portland Monthly Magazine   Please ask me for the latest copy; it has a convenient table that you can use to scan for the highest scoring schools and other important stats.   

School Match.com Website    Report costs $34-$44   

Recommended reading:   

School Choices in Greater Portland  (ISBN: 0-9639879-6-8).  The book covers the following public school districts:  Beaverton, Gresham-Barlow, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, North Clackamas, Portland, Riverdale, Tigard-Tualatin, and West Linn-Wilsonville. There are chapters on private schools and preschools.  Plus a section on “How to Enrich Your Child’s Education.”   

Information regarding state tools for evaluation of schools:   

Tools for Evaluating Schools   

1. Oregon Assessment of Knowledge & Skills (OAKS)
2. Oregon School Report Cards (or AYP – Adequate Yearly Progress Reports)
3. SAT scores (found on the report cards)

The OAKS and SAT scores are standardized tests.  Each year in early January, the Oregon Department of Education produces annual performance report cards for schools.    

In December 2006, a representative group of Oregon educators, parents and other members of the public gathered together to determine how well students need to do on the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) tests to be identified as having mastered the state content standards. The last time that was done was in 1996, so it was time to update and realign the standards with our expectations. Based on this review, some grade levels have higher expectations for students this year than in previous years. At a small number of grades, mostly high school, the expectations are lower based on the review of actual test items used in our state tests. Due to the change in Oregonians’ expectations for students, the percent of students meeting the standard in 2006-07 is not comparable to previous year’s results.   

Oregon School Report Cards   

The Oregon State lawmaker passed a School Report Card bill in 1999.  It requires that the Oregon Department of Education produce and issue a report card for all schools and districts. This law was passed to recognize that members of the public want consistent and reliable information about their schools.   

The No Child Left Behind Act requires the annual determination of whether schools, districts, and states have made adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward the goal of having all students meet rigorous state academic standards by the 2013-2014 school year. Each year, the performance of all students in the school and district, as well as subgroups of students, is measured against annual performance targets. States must identify for improvement any school or district receiving Title I funds that does not meet adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years in the same content area.   

You can view the results of school report cards at the Department of Education School Report Cards.  Use the pull down menu for District Selection at the top of the web page.   

The Report Card for a school district and schools within a district has other very valuable information on it such as attendance, student dropout numbers, faculty data, etc.   

SAT Scores   

A hidden benefit of the School Report Cards is the reporting of SAT scores.  All the Oregon high school report cards has a SAT table which shows the average college entrance SAT score for senior graduating during a given school year.  The table contains the following:   

• School, state, and national average scores for the verbal and math tests
• The percentage of seniors tested at the school
• The number of seniors tested at the school

SAT scores for individual schools are kept with the school report card – go to State of Oregon Department of Education website to view School Report Cards.  Select a district from the pull down menu (District Selection) and click on the Report Card for the latest school year/school of interest.   

2010-2011 PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS INFORMATION SHEET