Oklahoma ACT scores have risen steadily since 1990. State SAT scores are up. Students are taking more challenging courses. More high school graduates are going to college.
More teachers have degrees in subjects they teach.
Though Education Week researchers strongly fault Oklahoma for spending more on administration and non-teaching services than on classroom teaching, they give the state 4th place in teacher quality. Only South Carolina, North Carolina, and Connecticut precede Oklahoma. Let's look a little closer. The 5.5 percent is the dropout average for just one year of high school. Multiply by four to get 22 percent.