Page 10A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Friday, October 13, 2017
SCHOOL: Pendleton graduation rate is up
Continued from 1A
2016-2017 Report Cards
Assessments
It’s the tale of two
districts when it comes
to the English language
arts portion of the Smarter
Balanced Assessment for
high school juniors.
During the 2016-2017
school year, 61.8 percent
Pendleton’s 11th graders
scored a 3 or 4 in English,
a steep drop from the 77.1
percent the year before and
far below the state average
and the average for similar
districts.
Matt Yoshioka, Pendle-
ton’s director of curriculum,
instruction and assessment,
said the district needs to take
a closer look at the data to
get a better idea of how to
improve scores.
“We need to dig deeper,”
he said.
By the time students
reach their junior year,
Yoshioka said many have
already completed enough
work samples that they no
longer need to pass Smarter
Balanced as a requirement
for graduation. As a result,
they don’t take the test seri-
ously or perform well.
It was a different story
for Hermiston.
Despite
having
38
percent English language
learners at the high school
level, 77.4 percent of
Hermiston juniors got top
scores in language arts,
outpacing the 71.1 percent
state average and the score
for similar districts.
Hermiston
Assistant
Superintendent
Bryn
Browning said she was
proud that almost every
grade level performed better
than the state and simi-
lar-school average.
She said the improved
English score can attributed
to the hard work of the high
school staff, including both
language arts teachers and
other teachers who have
language components in
their curriculum.
But Browning also
noticed that middle school
scores took a step back.
“We weren’t working
with the best educational
resources,” she said.
PENDLETON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Math*
English language arts*
3-5: 44.9% (-0.6)
3-5: 46.1% (-3)
6-8: 39.5% (+2.9)
6-8: 47.1% (-8.7)
11: 27.8% (+2.7)
11: 61.8% (-15.3)
High school regular attenders: 76.2% (-3.3)
2015-16 graduation rate: 83.9% (+9.4)
2016-17 freshman on-track to graduate: 74.9% (-4.8)
HERMISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Math*
English language arts*
3-5: 51.5% (+3.7)
3-5: 50.4% (-3.1)
6-8: 39% (-3)
6-8: 50% (-5.3)
11: 31.3% (+12)
11: 77.4% (+11.3)
High school regular attenders: 71.1 % (+3.8)
2015-16 graduation rate: 65.7% (+1.6)
2016-17 freshman on-track to graduate: 83.8% (-0.9)
*Percentage of students who score at Level 3 &4
Hermiston adopted a
new math curriculum at the
beginning of the school year,
about two years after the
state’s adoption schedule. As
teachers and students start
to familiarize themselves
with the new curriculum,
Browning anticipates scores
rising.
Graduation rate
Pendleton and Hermis-
ton’s graduation data are an
inverse of one another.
Pendleton’s 2015-2016
graduation rate was 83.9
percent, a more than 9-point
improvement from the year
before when it was around
the state average. But its
2016-2017 freshman class is
on-track to graduate at only
a 74.9 percent rate.
Regardless of test scores,
Yoshioka said spurring
students toward graduation
is always the most important
goal of every teacher from
kindergarten through 12th
grade. Additionally, Pend-
leton has a track record of
turning a relatively low
on-track rate into a higher
graduation rate.
In Hermiston, district
seniors’ 65.7 graduation rate,
significantly lower than both
the state and similar school
average, was contrasted with
a 83.8 percent on-track rate.
Browning
said
the
district does take some
optimism from the high
on-track rate. She added that
the high school’s efforts to
broaden its course offerings
and hire a graduation coach
will eventually be reflected
in the data.
Attendance
The number of Pendleton
and Hermiston high school
students who are defined
as “regular attenders” —
students who attend school
at a 90 percent clip or more
— are well below the rest
of their peers at other grade
levels.
Browning said Herm-
iston’s 71.1 percent rate
is actually higher than the
67.3 percent state rate and
the high school is working
diligently to continue the
upswing.
Yoshioka said regular
attenders rates, like Pend-
leton’s 76.2 percent, are
generally sub-par in high
schools across Oregon.
He said attendance
tends to drop more as high
schoolers get closer to
finishing school.
Sometimes its a case of
“senioritis.” Other times, it’s
students who realize their
credit deficient as they’re
entering their last year of
high school, their discour-
agement fueling their lack
of attendance.
Weather could also play
a role in poor attendance:
Yoshioka said last year’s
preponderance of snow days
suppressed attendance, not
only on the day itself, but on
the days before and after.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Customers order at Delish Bistro on Thursday in Hermiston.
FOOD: Selection has diversified over the last few years
something new, that’s what
I’ve noticed about Herm-
iston,” she said.
She said restaurants that
come in with a unique type
of cuisine, like the Kobe
Hibachi Sushi restaurant that
opened last year or the Veg
Out salad restaurant, seem to
do particularly well. Pedro
said over the last few years
that Hermiston’s restaurant
selection has diversified.
There are still niches to fill,
however. Pedro said she hears
a lot that Hermiston needs a
sit-down Italian restaurant or
a seafood restaurant.
She said there are other
factors at play that help
determine if a restaurant
will last in Hermiston. Some
establishments have adapted
to the market by adding live
entertainment on weekends,
delivery services or other
offerings to make them stand
out from the competition.
“I think the biggest thing
that makes a restaurant
successful is great customer
service, and great quality
food,” she said.
Despite
frequent
complaints from locals on
Facebook that Hermiston
needs more restaurants or
more variety, several of Herm-
iston’s eating establishments
have gotten high marks on the
business-reviewing site Yelp,
often from non-Hermiston
Continued from 1A
Most customers at the
current location order on a
takeout basis or eat in the
tent-covered seating outside,
but co-owner LaNae Hull said
the move will allow for an
expanded menu of entrées and
a full liquor license in addition
to more indoor seating.
Hull said one reason
Delish Bistro has done well
is likely that it offers some
dishes that other restaurants
in town don’t, particularly its
Hawaiian-style plate lunches.
“Our number one seller is
teriyaki chicken,” she said.
The bistro’s other most
popular items are its burgers,
and it also offers gelato and
the rotating seasonal menu
of options like the pear &
bleu cheese sandwich and
butternut squash soup. Hull
said she often gets requests
for types of fare people have
trouble finding in Hermiston,
like Italian.
“Someone was asking
about fettuccine alfredo the
other day,” Hull said. “The
menu is pretty full for the fall
but we are doing lasagna this
winter.”
Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce
director Debbie Pedro said
people seem hungry for new
dining experiences.
“Everyone is excited for
residents who said they were
pleasantly surprised to find
such good food in Hermiston.
“I am amazed that this
high quality sushi was found
in Hermiston! What a great
hole-in-the-wall restaurant
to have in Eastern Oregon,”
Marissa B. of Las Vegas
wrote of Kobe Hibachi Sushi
in April.
“We drove off the beaten
path because I spotted the
Yelp reviews for Walkers
while heading east from
Portland and I can assure you,
when we are driving east, we
will never stop anywhere else
again,” Heatherly O. of Lake
Oswego wrote about Walk-
er’s Farm Kitchen in January.
Top-rated
Hermiston
restaurants on the site,
with 4.5 stars after more
than 30 reviews, include
Walker’s Farm Kitchen
with 110 reviews, Lawan’s
Thai Garden with 65, Kobe
Hibachi Sushi with 36 and
Delish Bistro with 31.
Hermiston
has
58
restaurants with ratings on
Yelp, approximately one
restaurant per 298 people
living within city limits,
compared to 61 restaurants
listed in Pendleton, at one
restaurant per 276 residents.
Four of Pendleton’s restau-
rants are listed as Mexican
restaurants, compared to 16
of Hermiston’s.
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541-377-7787 Cell
milne@easternoregonranches.com
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