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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2018)
WEEKEND EDITION BUCKS RUN WILD COOKING TOGETHER FRESH COFFEE SHOP SPORTS/1B LIFESTYLES/1C BUSINESS/8A SEPTEMBER 29-30 142nd Year, No. 236 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD A YEAR AFTER THE LAS VEGAS MASSACRE Where teaching meets testing Local educators talk about Smarter Balanced scores By ANTONIO SIERRA and JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian in the head. Gracia’s fiancée, Summer Clyburn, had a bullet in her back. The assault continued rapid-fire. “No one knew where the shooter was,” Elaine said. “Kevin picked up Pendleton High School math teacher Eric Oja thinks he’s figured out a way to raise test scores on the Smarter Balanced Assess- ment, and all it took was thousands of hours of coding. While the Pendleton High School’s 36.6 per- cent proficiency rate in 2017-2018 might not seem impressive on its face, it represents a nearly 6 percent bump from the year before. In a state where only a third of high school students pass Smarter Oja Balanced and a coun- try where around a quarter pass it, Pendleton High School’s scores start to stand out. Oja said the improvement is a result of a years-long quest on how to best teach stu- dents, a process he called “metacognative.” During his research, he discovered that stu- dents perform better when they’re given immediate feedback while trying to solve a problem. Oja teaches Algebra II, the math course juniors commonly take in the only year the Smarter Balanced assessment is offered. A 25-year teaching veteran, Oja started working with Moodle, an open-source educa- tional software package, and coding his own online course. Instead of a standard worksheet, Oja’s stu- dents can access a website that will provide them with complex algebraic problems. If they don’t solve the problem right the first time, a message will often pop up that reminds stu- dents of the steps they need to take to properly solve it before moving onto the next problem. If the students are continually stumped, they can also access a video lesson he uploaded to the website. Oja thinks this allows students to immerse themselves better in his in-class lessons rather than just transcribing notes. And it’s presented in a similar format to Smarter Balanced, an adaptive test that’s administered through a See SHOOTING/12A See TESTING/11A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Elaine and Kevin Anderson are both survivors of the last year’s Route 91 Harvest festival shooting in Las Vegas. Kevin Anderson, an emergency medical technician, after getting his wife to safety, rushed back into the line of fire to administer medical aid to those that were injured. In the face of danger Pendleton man recognized for brave actions as bullets flew By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian I mages of last year’s mass shooting in Las Vegas still live in Kevin and Elaine Anderson’s brains. Before the shooting began on Oct. 1, the Pendleton couple basked in a day of country music at the Route 91 Har- vest festival. Suddenly a pop, pop, pop punctured the desert night, sending the Andersons and thousands of others div- ing for cover. Tucked away on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, the shooter would kill 58 and wound almost 500 people before ending his siege. Kevin, an emergency medical techni- cian and regional communications direc- tor for a medical transportation company called American Medical Response, slipped back into a first responder role. In the aftermath of the shooting, he used his 30 years of EMT experience to pull multiple victims to safety. For his brav- Staff photo by George Plaven Kevin Anderson accepts the Medal of Valor at the 2018 Oregon EMS Awards Banquet in Salem on Friday. ery, Anderson received the Oregon Health Authority’s Medal of Valor on Friday night at the Oregon EMT Confer- ence in Salem. As shots flew, Anderson first rescued off-duty police officer Michael Gracia, who lay gravely injured after being shot State Rep. Susan Mc- Lain, D-For- est Grove, says work on regulating driverless cars will take years. Claire Withycombe/ Capital Bureau Receive Care Whenever and Wherever You Need it! Driverless cars running on empty Oregon regulations Task force recommends rules for public road testing By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — As development of driver- less cars accelerates, Oregon is trying to catch up. The state has no regulation for what are termed autonomous cars. The law assumes there’s a person behind the wheel. “It felt like ‘The Jetsons’ to them,” said Sarah Kelber, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Transportation. “That wasn’t even in anybody’s mindset when the vehicle code was written.” The federal government regulates vehi- cle manufacturing and safety standards. But states oversee licensing, registra- See DRIVERLESS/11A ONLY $35 PER VISIT! • COUGH • COLD • FLU • SORE THROAT • EAR ACHE • PINK EYE • RASH • URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS • AND SO MUCH MORE! Virtual Care 844.724.8632 FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG
