To know what a student thinks about school, you have to ask. One student’s answer will likely vary from another’s, making it hard to summarize how things are going at one school, one district or a whole state.
But Oregon is in its second year of trying to get some answers with its Student Educational Equity Development survey. The SEED survey measures not what students learn, but how they feel about school.
Before 2020, the state never collected any information like this.
“Without this information, it was difficult to identify which levers education systems could focus their efforts on in order to improve student outcomes,” Oregon Department of Education officials wrote in a report on the most recent results.
Results were released in November for students who were in third through 11th grade during the 2024-2025 school year. More than 180,000 students participated in the survey, which, according to ODE, was 47% of “eligible students” in the state.
Questions in the survey focused on themes including sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and plans after high school.
Students attend an assembly at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, June 5, 2024, in Portland, Ore.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
A few thousand more students participated in Alt-SEED, an alternate assessment for students with a narrower focus.
New this year are “domain scores.” ODE officials say they make data easier to interpret. Domain scores compile student answers to multiple questions on a specific topic, giving numerical values to the survey responses. For example, “strongly disagree” would be worth zero points, while “strongly agree” would be worth three, as it’s the highest response option. There are domain scores available for each Oregon school district and the state’s 19 education service districts, which each serve several districts in their geographic areas.
In a statement to OPB, Oregon Department of Education director Charlene Williams said the survey results are a reflection of students’ lived experiences.
“Hearing directly from more than 180,000 Oregon students helps us better understand where schools are creating strong communities of belonging and where we must do more to ensure every student feels valued, supported, and prepared for their future,” Williams shared.
“Numbers are only part of the story — these data help us dig deeper and develop more precise support and solutions for student success.”
Here are five takeaways from the survey. You can read the survey report here and find all of the survey data here.
1. The results are not representative of all students in Oregon
While almost half of Oregon students participated in this survey, it does not represent everyone. There is a wide range of participation between students in each grade, as well as in geographic representation.
ODE advises caution in using and interpreting the data.
The highest participation rate in the survey was for students in elementary school, with 60-64% of students represented. In middle school, about half of the students are represented. High schoolers had the lowest participation rate, with 27-32% of students represented.
The majority of districts had 41-80% of eligible students participate. Less than 10 of Oregon’s 197 school districts had participation rates from 81-100%, and most of those were in small districts in rural areas of the state.
Still, the results are fairly representative when it comes to gender, race, ethnicity, and student groups. For example, 4% of Oregon’s student population is Asian; 5% of SEED survey takers were Asian. About 33% of Oregon students are classified as “students experiencing poverty,” a data point that includes students who received SNAP assistance or experienced homelessness; 30% of students taking the SEED survey met that criteria.
2. Students say they still don’t see themselves reflected in class materials …
Over half of the students surveyed said their readings, assignments, and tests “never” or “rarely” include people who look like students and their families.
Results were uniform across grades, but a higher percentage of elementary and middle schoolers said they didn’t have representational class materials.
“There’s a handful of Black students [at my school], and I am one of them. I just wish there was more cultural awareness, appreciation, and things of that matter for everyone,” one student shared. “I feel very unwelcome sometimes. This would change other students’ experience by creating a more inviting environment for all students, so everyone can feel like they belong and are safe in school.”
ODE reports that male students, American Indian/Alaska Native students, and multiracial students in all grades felt they had less representation in their classroom materials.
3. … but some students report learning a lot about Native Americans and tribes in Oregon
In 2017, Oregon passed Senate Bill 13, which required the state to develop — and districts to begin teaching — curricula about the experience of Native Americans in Oregon. The majority of available lessons are for students in kindergarten, third grade, fourth grade, eighth grade, and 10th grade.
The availability of lessons is reflected by students who said they learned the most about Native Americans. About 75% of fourth graders report “sometimes” or “often” learning about Native Americans, with more than 60% of students in fifth, sixth, and eighth grades also reporting learning about tribes.
4. Students say they feel welcome at school — but do they like it?
Surveyed students were asked whether they feel welcome and safe at school, and whether they have adults at school who care about them. Overwhelmingly, they said yes.
At least 80% of students marked “agree” or “strongly agree” to most of these questions.
These findings suggest there may be other reasons for Oregon’s low attendance rates, like transportation issues.
The only statement that caused more students to mark “disagree” was: “I like going to school.”
A higher percentage of students in elementary grades said they liked going to school, with a dip in seventh and eighth grades. In those grades, the split between “disagree” and “agree” was more even, before an increase in students liking school in ninth, 10th, and 11th grades.
5. Most high school students are considering a 4-year college
The survey asked middle and high school students whether they know what they want to do after high school and how schoolwork may connect to a future career.
A higher percentage of high school students than middle school students say they speak with adults at school about career opportunities.
“[I want my school to] engage students in career possibilities, paths, and opportunities,” one student shared. “I think there is a problem with students not knowing what jobs are out there, which makes it hard for them to start thinking about their future.”
According to ODE, male students, multiracial students, and students with disabilities felt they didn’t have access to all the career opportunities they wanted.
About 67% of high school participants in the SEED survey marked “probably’ or “definitely” when asked if they were considering a 4-year college.
