Locally reported DDHS 2020 to 2021 graduation drop misleading

Posted March 8, 2022

By Ethan Donahue

Staff Editor

After graduation rates increased when quarantine first caused the implementation of distance learning, the concurring fall in rates during the 20-21 school year was expected.

The 2020-2021 drop reported by KATU-2 reporter Dan McCarthy, comparing other Portland school districts graduation rates to DDHS’, that those districts “pale in comparison” to David Douglas' rate, was misleading and incomplete. McCarthy also tweeted that DDHS experienced a “whopping” 11.3% drop. After further investigation, The Highlander found the drop was actually 10.99%.

McCarthy's reporting failed to mention that Governor Kate Brown and ODE relaxed graduation requirements during the 2019-20 school year due to concerns circulating that distance learning would disallow all students the same chances at graduating. This heavily impacted graduation rates, as seniors who met Essential Skill requirements their junior year were guaranteed to graduate regardless of their senior year performance.

David Douglas High School’s graduation rate, after having risen to 85.53% during the 2019-20 school year due to these relaxed state requirements, dropped by 10.99% during the 2020-21 school year to a slightly below average 74.54% graduation rate. Statewide, the Oregon high school graduation rate is 80.60%, which is a two percent drop from the graduation rate from 2019-20. For the 2020-21 school year the nationwide graduation rate was 85.3%, a three percent drop from the 2019-20 school year. Nationwide, rates from the 2019-20 school year to the next year dropped. For the first semester of the 2021-22 school year, 47.6% of the graduating class is on track to graduate. Another reason for the high graduation rate in 2019-20 was the fact that most high schools froze grades, meaning students couldn’t get a lower grade than they had when distance learning started. With the chaos surrounding virtual learning, student access to WiFi, and attendance, class difficulty lessened and grading was more lenient. Many teachers were motivated to let seniors pass regardless of their participation in distance learning. The graduation requirement for credits completed changed from 25 credits to 24.

“We had to work with students and their situations,” said principal Greg Carradine. “We’re trying to increase the rate. Some things that we’ve done is that we’ve started a peer mentor and connect team this year to try and find students that have been impacted by the pandemic to provide extra resources for those students.”

For students struggling to meet graduation requirements, DDHS has several campus resources ready to help, including counselors, grad mentors, the Scots Center, extra tutoring offered after school, and the newly formed Peer Mentor and Connect Team.

“We’re trying to reconnect with our community and bring our community back on board,” said Carradine. “Nobody necessarily has a play book, but we know that having students in school is the most important thing at this time.”