Education report mixed on Oklahoma's progress

Associated Press 

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A study released July 1 indicates that Oklahoma is making progress in reading and math achievement in grade schools but needs to increase its number of college graduates.

State Education Department spokeswoman Shelly Hickman says the report by the Florida-based Southern Regional Education Board is a compilation of previously reported education statistics about Oklahoma.

The report notes that Oklahoma's 6-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen who entered a public 4-year school in the fall of 2000 was 48 percent, compared to the national average of 55 percent.

Houston Davis, the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, says more recent numbers show an improvement in the number of college graduates in the state.

The report also notes that Oklahoma's college enrollment rate of recent high school graduates did show improvement, from 50 percent in 1994 to 52 percent in 2004. Nationally, the rate dropped from 63 percent to 56 percent.