OREGON GRADUATION RATES COMPARED BY RACE & GENDER
2011
2016
88%
80.7%
78.4%
76.6%
74.4%
70.1%
69.4%
69.1%
72.9%
71.4%
69.1%
66.2%
66.1%
64.3%
59.5%
56.4%
53.3%
50.8%
AFRICAN
AMERICAN
AMERICAN INDIAN/
ALASKA NATIVE
as School Improvement) at Lane ESD,
says Lane County has consistently done
a poor job of justifying why kids should
be passionate about what they learn in
class. Sequeira says that CTE’s expan-
sion will better serve the students by ac-
commodating their various needs.
“We want to improve the outcomes for
each and every student,” Sequeira says,
“and find out what that looks like in terms
of the curriculum and instructing we are
providing for our students.” He says that
his department, which collaborates with
CTE, is taking a closer look at students
who come from stable homes and who tra-
ditionally have more opportunities than
marginalized or lower income students.
The latter groups tend to be the students
who fall through the cracks of academia,
thus negatively impacting graduation
rates, Sequeira explains.
Achieving better graduation rates
means better funding for adequate cur-
riculum that accommodates to a diverse
pool of students. “One initiative is Math In
Real Life, which is a statewide approach
that intends to improve math instruction
equity,” he says. “Meaning that we want to
explore, honor and integrate the language
and culture of the student into every day
instruction.”
Math In Real Life was awarded the
STEM (Science Technology Engineering
Math) Innovation Grant, which, accord-
ing to ODE, allots $250,000 to a single
regional project and runs from March 1,
2016, through June 30, 2017. Linn County
was awarded the Carl D. Perkins Grant,
which supports CTE programs and has a
proposal-dependent amount. Lane County
was awarded a $950,000 chunk last year,
however, in 2016 the county did not make
the list.
Although the new CTE initiatives
are still fresh, graduation rates in Lane
County have been rising in tandem with
the expansion and involvement of CTE,
as well as the statewide emphasis on eq-
uitable teaching practices.
The challenge of communicating with
students in a way that makes them feel
supported as well as motivated in the
classroom, Sequeira says, is not unique
to Eugene or Lane County.
“It’s a state and nationwide question
about how we engage with our margin-
alized students,” he explains. “It’s about
how we connect that bridge between what
they value at home and what our teach-
ers value. Do their pedagogical beliefs
match the students they’re serving?”
HISPANIC/
LATINO
NATIVE HAWAIIAN/
PACIFIC ISLANDER
ASIAN
WHITE
MULTI-RACIAL
FEMALE
MALE
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