Tigard-Tualatin midyear data: graduation rates steady, attendance improving, discipline gaps persist

The Tigard-Tualatin SD 23J board met in a work session to review semester‑1 student outcome data, hearing district staff report that overall four‑year graduation rates have held steady since the pandemic and that attendance improved in kindergarten and sixth grade, while behavior referrals and disciplinary disparities remain concentrated in middle school.

Director Amber Fields, who opened the presentation, said the district’s “overarching goals are based on these key indicators that are critical for student success,” and identified third-, fifth- and eighth‑grade reading; fifth- and eighth‑grade math; kindergarten, sixth- and ninth‑grade attendance; ninth‑grade on‑track credit attainment; and several social‑emotional and behavior measures as the primary metrics under review.

The midyear presentation combined three years of i‑Ready reading data (English and Spanish) and showed mixed trends by grade: a small downward trend in third‑grade reading, relative stability in fifth grade and improvement in eighth grade. Paul Verstrait, a district presenter, summarized the reading results as measures of whether students are prepared for the next instructional level.

Math scores remained lower than reading overall, the presenters said, with a modest upward trend in fifth grade, a slight decline at eighth grade from the most recent year but an increase compared with earlier years, and…