2024 · SchoolDecoder annual report

2024 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro Schools Report

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA · includes OR and WA

States: OR and WA

This report includes schools in OR and WA. School context and assessment data are interpreted with each state system in mind before nearby schools are compared across the metro.

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA’s school rankings change when you account for context. Some schools with modest raw scores move sharply up the list once socioeconomic factors are considered. Others still rank highly on achievement, but look closer to expected when compared with schools serving similar communities. That does not make one group “good” and the other “bad.” It means raw test scores are doing two jobs at once: measuring academic performance and reflecting neighborhood advantage.

Use this as school context for nearby schools. It is informational, not a recommendation; verify school assignment with the district or official boundary source.

View the full Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA rankings

Key findings

What the 2024 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA data shows

  • 430

    Schools ranked

  • 50

    Outperforming Expectations

  • 53

    Strong by Both Measures

  • 49

    High Scores, Context Matters

How to read this chart

  • Each dot is a school.
  • The line shows expected performance based on socioeconomic context.
  • Schools above the line are outperforming expectations.
  • Schools below the line are underperforming relative to similar contexts.

Larger dots have more enrollment. Color shows the size of the context-adjusted effect (School Alpha). Hover or tap a dot for the school’s name and both ranks.

Below expectations Near expected Outperforming Showing all 430 ranked schools. Dot size scales with enrollment. The dashed line is expected performance for a school of that socioeconomic context.

Tier distribution

How 430 schools fall into tiers

  • 22★★★ Exceptional (Top 5%)
  • 43★★ Outperforming Expectations (Top 15%)
  • 65★ Above Expected (Top 30%)
  • 172Performing as Expected (Middle 40%)
  • 64Below Expected (Bottom 30%)
  • 64Lower Performance (Bottom 15%)

Notable schools

Where the data tells a clear story

  1. Highest decoded rank

    Winterhaven School

    Achievement #5 · Decoded #1

    places from achievement to Decoded Rank

    Students score highly, and the school still stands out after accounting for context — students also tend to gain ground while enrolled.

  2. Biggest move up after context

    Hartley Elementary School

    Achievement #415 · Decoded #32

    places from achievement to Decoded Rank

    Raw scores are modest, but students tend to gain ground relative to peers while enrolled.

  3. Biggest move down after context

    Prune Hill Elem

    Achievement #73 · Decoded #372

    places from achievement to Decoded Rank

    Scores are high, but students tend to lose ground relative to peers while enrolled.

  4. Highest raw achievement

    Westridge Elementary School

    Achievement #1 · Decoded #2

    places from achievement to Decoded Rank

    Raw scores are high here, and the school remains strong for its context; students tend to gain ground relative to peers over time.

District patterns

How districts compare

District-level summaries arrive with the full report. Until then, view individual district pages.

Methodology summary

How these rankings were calculated

SchoolDecoder asks a simple question: how did students perform compared with what we would expect given the school’s context? For this report, we standardize a school-level achievement composite derived from the published performance-level distribution within each state, grade, subject, and year, then predict expected performance from a blended socioeconomic index built on Census ACS 5-year data, NCES enrollment and demographics, and state-published economically disadvantaged measures. School Alpha is the residual after that adjustment; Decoded Rank then combines Alpha with learning rate, equity within the building, trajectory, and participation where those components are available, with shrinkage applied so smaller schools don’t produce wild rankings on noise.

This report uses 2024 assessment data, NCES CCD 2023, ACS 2020-2024, and methodology version 0.9.0. 4 source files are attached in the disclosure block.

For the full technical treatment, see the SchoolDecoder methodology page.

Data limitations

What this report cannot answer

Decoded Rank is a residual, not a causal estimate. A high decoded rank is consistent with strong school effect; it cannot prove a school caused better student outcomes. Neighborhood SES is estimated from school location and public enrollment data — it may not fully represent where enrolled students live, especially for choice, magnet, charter, or boundary-exception schools.

Confidence is lower for smaller schools because fewer students were tested. We show confidence bands and call out small-school noise instead of pretending false precision. For more, see limitations. This report is school context for comparing nearby schools, not a recommendation or a school-assignment source.

Download & share

  • Report PDF pending
  • Share image pending
  • Underlying JSON not mirrored for this report

Link to this public report when sharing it. Source-specific reuse terms may apply to downloaded data. This is school context only, not a recommendation; verify school assignment with the district or official boundary source.

Data & sources

Assessment data
2023–24 school year
NCES CCD vintage
2023
Census ACS 5-year vintage
2020-2024
Last updated
July 26, 2026
Methodology version
0.9.0

Cross-state metro note: This report includes schools in OR and WA. School context and assessment data are interpreted with each state system in mind before nearby schools are compared across the metro.

Source files (4)

SchoolDecoder publishes context-adjusted residuals, not causal estimates. Decoded Rank is one signal — not a verdict on teaching quality. Read about limitations →