Oregon Education Among Very Worst in the Nation

The results are in and Oregon is one of only 5 states in the nation to receive a D overall grade across all areas measured in the Education Week’s Quality Counts report just released.

I must ask, though, how can this be? Our teacher salaries are good, the teachers’ union is firmly in control, the Democrat politicians keep pouring more and more money into the education budget, and the experts in the state department of education tell us they know what they are doing. I wonder, though, given our national ranking”¦

Here’s a summary of how Oregon is performing in education from the Education Week Magazine annual survey of education in America:

1. Oregon is the worst state in the nation for Kindergarten enrollment (rank 50).
2. Oregon is the worst state in the nation for adults in the labor force working full time and year-round, a measurement of the outcome of the education system (rank 50).
3. Oregon is the worst state in the nation for 4th grade math achievement gains (rank 50).
4. Oregon is the second worst state in the nation for 4th grade reading achievement (rank 49)
5. Forty-seven states have early-learning standards — Oregon has none.
6. Oregon does not define college readiness or college preparation.
7. Oregon has no path for industry certification while 40 other states do.
8. Oregon has no requirement for licensing teachers that includes substantial coursework completion in the subject area to be taught. Twenty-seven other states do.
9. Oregon has no test of subject-specific knowledge in order to obtain a teaching license. Forty-two other states do.
10. Oregon does not require formal annual evaluations of all teachers’ performance. Forty-three other states do.
11. Oregon does not publish rankings or results for our teacher-preparation institutions. Thirty other states do.
12. Oregon does not offer an alternative-route program for teacher preparation. Forty-seven other states do.
13. Oregon does not provide incentives for teachers to earn national board certification. Thirty-eight other states do.
14. Oregon does not provide a mentoring program for new teachers. Twenty other states do.
15. Oregon does not provide a mentoring program for administrators. Fourteen other states do.

In short, Oregon is one of only five states in the nation to receive a D grade. What could possibly have gone wrong?

You can read the full report at www.edweek.org.