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APPEAL TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
Life in the
Valley y
sanews@salem.gannett.com
Richard Moles, 80, of Silverton plays his accordion at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel on Friday. The town’s annual Oktoberfest continues Saturday and Sunday. PHOTOS BY ANNA
REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL
EARLY OKTOBER
People gather to watch the glockenspiel as it plays at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest on opening
day Friday.
The glockenspiel clock tower and Die Fruchtsäule are at the heart of at the Mt. Angel
Oktoberfest.
School tests show mixed results across student groups
LAUREN E HERNANDEZ
STATESMAN JOURNAL
Oregon student test scores dropped in
most grades with the exception of high
school, according to a review of state-
wide data.
The state is in its third year adminis-
tering the end-of the-year Smarter Bal-
anced Assessment for English and Math,
and Oregon Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills to students in grades 3 through
8 and juniors in high school.
In the Salem-Keizer School District,
participating students districtwide had
lower scores in English language arts,
mathematics, and science.
Roughly 49.4 percent of students re-
ceived a 3 or 4 rating in English. Students
who receive a 3 or 4 of the four possible
ratings are considered to be on track to
graduate high school, ready for college
and prepared for the workplace.Last
year, 50.7 percent received the same lev-
el.
Mathematics scores dropped by less
than a point, from 36.5 percent to 36.1
percent, and science scores went from
54.9 percent to 54.5 percent.
The district's 11th- and eighth-grad-
ers, however, improved in all three
areas.
The percentage of Salem-Keizer 11th-
graders scoring 3 or 4 improved from
45.2 to 45.3 in science, from 31.4 to 36.5 in
math, and 70.1 to 72.4 in English.
In eighth grade, 56.2 percent of stu-
dents received a 3 or 4 rating this year in
English, an increase of about two per-
A social studies class meets at Straub Middle
School in West Salem on Sept. 5. ANNA
REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL
centage points; math scores improved
by roughly one point; and science scores
improved by roughly two points.
"That may be attributed to the number
of students in accelerated math last year,
but there may be other factors as well,"
said Matt Biondi, the Salem-Keizer
School District Middle School Level di-
rector. "There is quite a bit of growth im-
provement in students."
Biondi said the score boosts may also
be explained by the district's focus on
monitoring student learning and inter-
vening to help students catch up to their
peers in reading or other subjects.
Kelly Carlisle, the Salem-Keizer
School District Assistant Superinten-
dent, said the improvements to the high
school assessment results may be attrib-
uted to more rigorous learning opportu-
nities in math instruction.
"That seems to be paying off," Carlisle
said. "We have high aspirations for
where these scores can go in the future,
and we believe we have a path for that."
While the district's elementary school
results vary by grade, with some grades
improving and others decreasing, Car-
lisle said there is student growth occur-
ring that may not be best observed
through assessment scores.
"We're excited about initiatives
around literacy that are helping our stu-
dents grow over time," Carlisle said. "It's
important to remember that from year
to year to the next that we're not looking
at the same kids in these assessments."
Carlisle said the district is currently
working on a strategy that relies on us-
ing periodic measurements of student
learning in order to develop an interven-
tion framework when helping kids reach
grade-level goals.
"Our teachers have been utilizing in-
terventions for quite a while, but what
we've not been able to do is provide a
process or structure around the inter-
vention that is a framework," Carlisle
said. "Once that takes place, it takes a
leap forward in terms of our ability to di-
agnose an issue and respond with a spe-
cific kind of intervention."
Deputy Superintendent of Public In-
struction Salam Noor said, “We are con-
fident that as we work with school and
district leaders to implement the Oregon
Plan, we will see more students attend-
ing school regularly, more students
graduating and more scoring in the pro-
ficient category on these assessments."
Noor said in a statement he hopes Ore-
gon's plan on prioritizing student atten-
dance and strengthening district sys-
tems can help improve proficiency in all
subjects on annual assessments.
While roughly 95 percent of Oregon
students took the English language arts
assessment and 94 percent of students
took the math assessment, Noor said par-
ticipation rates were down from last
year. That change in participation could
impact the overall accuracy of student
performance results.
"Continued concentration on partici-
pation rates is critical, so our statewide
assessment of school performance can
more accurately reflect overall student
performance,” Noor said.
He said the assessment is one of the
few reliable instruments the Depart-
ment of Education has to review overall
student performance.CQ Noor said he
plans on working with school district of-
ficials to improve participation over the
next few years.
“We have an important opportunity,
through the Oregon Plan under the fed-
eral Every Student Succeeds Act, to fo-
cus on providing a culturally relevant,
well-rounded education for every stu-
dent,” Noor said.
To read the full report breakdown by
district, school and student group, visit
http://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-
resources/assessment/Pages/Assess-
ment-Group-Reports.aspx