The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) reports two sets of data to assist schools with identifying comparable institutions: (1) SES Ranks and (2) Comparison Schools. The ‘Comparison Groups by SES Rank’ is a list of schools by tested grade and socioeconomic (SES) rank as well as the percentage of students meeting the achievement standard by subject (i.e., English language arts, mathematics, and science) for the school and the comparison group. The SES rank is a composite picture of a school’s socioeconomic status and is based on a weighted combination of the percent of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch, percent of students in an English Learner program, student mobility rate, and the student attendance rate. The comparison group consists of the cluster of schools ranked immediately above and below that school’s location on the SES index (10 percent above and 10 percent below the particular school). For schools ranked in the upper or lower 10 percent on the SES index, their comparison group consists of the upper or lower 20 percent of schools. Schools should only use the SES Ranks for identifying similar schools in the context of achievement data (and by tested grade and subject).
The ‘Comparison Schools’ is a list of focal and comparison schools by type (i.e., elementary, middle, high, and combined). ODE uses an iterative process to identify schools that are similar according to student demographics (i.e., access to free or reduced price meals, ever-English Learners, underserved race/ethnicity, and student mobility) and enrollment sizes. Schools should only use the Comparison Schools for identifying similar schools based on the four demographics and student enrollment; however, it is important note that the Comparison Schools are applicable to most outcomes (e.g., achievement, regular attendance, graduation, etc.). For technical details, please see the “Documentation about Comparison Schools” link that follows.