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West Salem reviews high-school college and career readiness scorecard
Summary
District staff presented a data-driven scorecard for the Class of 2025 that showed robust job-shadow participation, high dual-enrollment activity and attendance patterns tied to COVID that remain predictive of later success. Board members asked about goals and obstacles to reaching targets.
West Salem district staff on Monday presented a college- and career-readiness scorecard emphasizing postsecondary preparation for the class of 2025 and explaining how attendance and course selection affect longer-term outcomes.
Justin, a district staff member, told the board the scorecard is "a research-based predictor of postsecondary success" the district has maintained since 2014 and pointed to several highlights: "100% of the class of 2025 completed a job shadow during their junior year," and dual-enrollment participation and credits earned remain strong.
Why it matters: The scorecard is used to track progress toward district goals and to identify interventions. Justin said the district seeks to raise college-ready indicators and aims for roughly three-quarters of graduates to meet college-readiness benchmarks and 100% to be career ready for students choosing workforce paths.
The presentation emphasized how small changes in counts can affect percentages: as Justin put it, "one student is about six-tenths of a percent," a reminder that shifts in participation can drive apparent metric volatility. He noted that self-directed job-shadowing among juniors has increased over recent years (from roughly 15% to about 32%) and that last year 69% of juniors planned their own job shadow.
Board members asked follow-up questions about update cadence and targets. One board member asked whether the report is updated annually; Justin confirmed it is refreshed each July and that some indicators require waiting until a senior class graduates. When asked about obstacles to reaching targets, Justin cited course placement decisions—especially in math—and described adjustments to ensure students are placed in courses that fit their postsecondary plans rather than pushing all students into algebra II prematurely.
Attendance came up repeatedly. Justin said freshman-year attendance is a strong predictor of later success and that the Class of 2025’s ninth-grade attendance was affected by COVID-era guidance to stay home when symptomatic, which lowered some freshman-year attendance figures. "Those freshman-year attendance metrics are remarkably predictive of success in high school and beyond," he said.
The board and staff agreed to keep using the scorecard as a planning tool and to continue work on targeted supports—and Justin reminded the board of an existing college and career readiness scholarship program to support students directly.
Next steps: Staff will continue to track the indicators, discuss targeted supports with committees in the new year and report back with any recommended interventions or resource needs.
