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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2020)
A6 OREGON East Oregonian Tuesday, April 21, 2020 School closures could have profound impact By BETSY HAMMOND The Oregonian PORTLAND — U.S. students, including those in Oregon, will pay a stagger- ing academic toll from the prolonged coronavirus-in- duced school shutdown, new research conducted in Portland based on fi ve mil- lion test scores indicates. Compared to how much they would have learned in a normal school year, ele- mentary and middle school students are likely to start school in the fall equipped with only about 70% of those reading and writ- ing skills, and with 50% or less of the expected gains in math, according to the research, conducted since the pandemic shuttered nearly all U.S. schools. While the projected learning losses are esti- mates, it’s clear it will likely take years, even in a best-case scenario, to fully remedy the hit to most stu- dents’ academic trajecto- ries, say researchers at test- ing outfi t NWEA. And children in fami- lies least equipped to help them during the unplanned and unprecedented pause in normal schooling, due to fi nancial woes, lack of digi- tal equipment or know-how and racial inequities, will surely be harmed the most, they and others say. “This is the longest break in an education that any kid who has started EO fi le photo A group of Echo fi fth-graders hang out in their new classroom on Aug. 22, 2018, during an open house for the new addition of the Echo School. kindergarten has experi- enced” in the history of modern U.S. education, says Chris Minnich, the test group’s chief executive. “It’s going to be really hard on teachers who are going to have wider gaps (in their students’ skill levels) than they ever have” this fall. Minnich and offi cials at the Oregon Department of Education tried to offer hope, however, pointing to strategies they say could lessen academic erosion for this generation of students. They include: • Offer summer catch-up sessions to students most likely to fall far behind, including students of color, those in poverty, those whose families speak lan- guages other than English and those with special edu- cation needs. • Start the school year a couple weeks early, when possible, or at least provide teachers with extra training and a wider range of cur- riculum materials during the ramp up to schools reopening. • Deploy additional test- ing shortly after school restarts so teachers can bet- ter match instruction to stu- dents’ needs. • Draw on community resources, whether that means posting math ques- tions in grocery stores or sharing highly educated tech-savvy parents’ tips with adults in low-income communities, to help rein- force learning during time out of school. • In the fall, shift after- school programming, such as Multnomah County’s SUN School operations, to focus more on academics, given the need to make up instructional time. The testing agency behind the new research, a nonprofi t based in Port- land’s Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, sprouted as Northwest Evaluation Association in the 1970s from early testing expertise that had built up in Port- land Public Schools, long before testing students in nearly every grade, every year became standard prac- tice in the U.S. Since its inception, the agency now known only by the ini- tials NWEA has special- ized in tests that measure each student’s growth over the course of a school year and from spring to fall, rather than how high or low each child compares at year’s end to a grade-level standard. One in four U.S. chil- dren, including those in Portland, Woodburn and West Linn-Wilsonville and more than 20 other Oregon districts, attend schools that use the Portland agency’s signature test, Measures of Academic Progress. Stu- dents typically take those tests in the fall, the winter and again in the spring. Scores on those tests and others have shown it’s nor- mal for students to lose sub- stantial ground on academ- ics over the summer break, which typically lasts about 10 weeks. But this year’s unprecedented closures, which will subtract about 12 weeks from Oregon’s school year, mean students are expected to lose far more ground, as their skills will erode rather than grow during that time, despite the best efforts at distance learning, the testing outfi t’s researchers say. Brown announces rapid distribution of PPE to long-term care facilities East Oregonian SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday that the Oregon National Guard will distribute approximately 395,000 pieces of personal protec- tive equipment to all long- term care facilities across Oregon, according to a press release from Brown’s offi ce. The rapid distribution of masks, gloves and face shields will supplement efforts by the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Author- ity to support facilities by helping prevent the spread of COVID-19 to residents and staff. “The staff of Oregon’s long-term care facilities are on the front lines of our fi ght against COVID- 19, and I am committed to protecting their health and safety,” Brown said. “This critical equipment will help protect both them, and the residents of these facil- ities, who are among the most at-risk Oregonians for exposure and infection. The shipments of PPE to Oregon’s long-term care facilities includes approx- imately 177,000 surgical masks, 127,000 gloves, 55,000 N95 masks, 33,000 face shields and 2,500 gowns. Members of the Oregon National Guard began deliveries of the equipment on Saturday. “Thank you to our tireless National Guard members for making this rapid distribution of per- sonal protective equip- ment possible,” Brown said. “We continue to pri- oritize securing more PPE, including working with local manufacturers and the federal govern- ment to procure additional resources.” OREGON'S 2ND OREGON'S 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT REPUBLICAN DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FORUM CANDIDATE FORUM Get to know the Republican candidates for U.S. Congress without leaving home. Get to know the Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress without leaving home. Primary election is May 19 Primary election is May 19 Forums will be video recorded without audience due to COVID-19 concerns. Forums will be video recorded without audience due to COVID-19 concerns. Streaming live on this newspaper’s Facebook page: Streaming live on this newspaper’s Facebook page: Saturday May 2, 2020 • 5 p.m. & 7 p.m. Friday, May 1, 2020 • 6:30 Watch after the event on this newspaper’s website or on EOAlive.tv Watch after the event on this newspaper’s website or on EOAlive.tv Submit your questions in advance by email to: CD2forum@eomediagroup.com or on Facebook Live during the event. Submit your questions in advance by email to: CD2forum@eomediagroup.com or on Facebook Live during the event. Moderated by Chris Rush - Regional Publisher, EO Media Group Moderated by Chris Rush - Regional Publisher, EO Media Group Live stream and video by EO Alive TV Live stream and video by EO Alive TV • A forum for the Democratic candidates will be held on May 1 • • A forum for the Republican candidates will be held on May 2 •
