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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
Polk County Education 14A Polk County Itemizer-observer • october 5, 2016 Test participation will matter more By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-observer Jolene Guzman/Itemizer-observer Students in a math 111 class take a quiz on Monday morning at Dallas High School. Students combine college, high school Willamette Promise helps students earn credits toward future education By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-observer DALLAS — During the 2015-16 school year, Dallas High School potentially saved students more than $125,800 through its Willamette Promise pro- gram. More than 90 students, mostly juniors and seniors, used the dual credit pro- gram to take college-level courses. They combined to earn 593 credits on the year, said DHS Principal Steve Spencer. Willamette Promise, a program of the Willamette Education Service District, works with local colleges and universities to “overlay” college-level work onto high school classes. Students have the option of earning the college credit — if they pass Willamette Promise as- sessments — and complete a high school graduation re- quirement at the same time. Because it’s a retroactive enrollment, meaning stu- dents apply for the credit after they have completed the course, there is no dan- ger of having a bad mark on a transcript. Willamette Promise credits 2015-15 Math 111: 44 Chemistry 104: 88 Writing 121: 124 Biology: 145 Spanish: 192 “This is about creating a college-going culture in the high school and (giving) stu- dents that have been often- times been classified as un- derserved or under-repre- sented that opportunity to show success in high school with no risk,” Spencer said. “When they see that they can do that college-level work here at the high school, we can create that college- going culture.” Last year was the second for the program and Spencer said school officials were pleasantly surprised by the participation rate. “We wanted to encourage this, but because it is new, we didn’t really have a base- line,” Spencer said. “We more than doubled the stu- dents that we had earn the credits.” Ryan Bibler, a junior, was one of those students. He took Chemistry 104 and earned four credits toward what he hopes will be a teaching degree. “I thought that is a great opportunity because college credit is a lot cheaper when I’m in high school,” he said. He had to work a little harder. Unlike for the high school course, there was only one test retake allowed when shooting for college credit. Bibler said it was worth it. “It’s wonderful. I appreci- ated it so much,” he said. “It’s money I save, time I save, stress I save.” Math teacher Suzanne Cassim is teaching math 111 for Willamette Promise for the second year. She has added more classes to ac- commodate the 93 students taking the class, many of which intend to seek Willamette Promise credits. She said at $30 per course, it’s bargain for high school students to apply for the credit and a chance get a taste of college work. “We go at a slower pace and they have more re- sources here. I can take my time to really prep them for it,” Cassim said. “I do think that these college and AP classes and Willamette Promise classes prepare them because of the rigor involved.” Similar to Bibler’s chem- istry class, testing require- ments are stricter with Willamette Promise. Stu- dents have no retake oppor- tunities in her class. “They know they need to be ready that first time,” she said. Spencer said he won’t know how many credits are earned this year until later, but hopes more students will take advantage of the opportunity. “It’s been exciting to see kids feeling confident about the work they do,” Spencer said. “I have no doubt the kids that we put up, who are earning these credits, are doing an equal amount or more challenging work than what’s expected at the next level.” DALLAS — Dallas School District and the charter schools it sponsors missed the mark on participation rates for Smarter Balanced testing in a few grades dur- ing the 2015-16 school year. For now, those statistics are simply informational, but soon they will start to count as the state will begin holding schools account- able for testing participa- tion rates lower than the federal standard of 95 per- cent. After hearing concerns from parents and educators about the new assessments, the state passed a law al- lowing families to opt out their children from testing, which further complicates matters for schools, said Steve Martinelli, DSD’s di- rector of instructional serv- ices. “Opt outs did affect us in a couple of places,” he said. Percentages lower than 95 are seen at Whitworth Elementary School in fifth grade language arts (94) and math (93.5). “That is concerning and we need to look at that and determine what is causing that, why there is more opt outs in our fifth-grade stu- dents than the other grades,” he said. Last year’s sixth-grade class came in at 94 percent in math and 94.4 in lan- guage, also due to opt outs, Martinelli said. Even lower rates are seen are at Dallas Community School, a charter school geared for home-school students. Martinelli said he’s working with the school director to see if those rates can be im- proved. “It’s not a super easy sell in our home-school popula- tion because that is part of the reason often they chose home school,” Martinelli said. “There are not interest- ed in standardized tests.” The issue with low par- ticipation rates is that they could soon play into the ratings schools are assessed on annual school report cards issued by the state. Schools can be rated from a high of five to a low of one. Last year and this year, those ratings aren’t issued because of the new assess- ment, but perhaps as soon as next year, those rates will count. “This is the second year we haven’t had an overall rating, but on the front page of the report card, you will see the number of con- secutive years you haven’t met participation rates,” Martinelli said. “Each year you don’t meet participa- tion rates, your overall rat- ing will drop one level.” SCHOOL NOTE Enroll now for YMCA winter program PolK CounTY — enrollment is open for the YmCa Winter C.l.u.B. program. The program is open to kids in grades K-5 over the winter break, Dec. 19-23 and 27-30. The program run two weeks, but parents can enroll kids for as much or as little as they like. each day will feature a different theme, which includes a STem activity, 30 minutes for reading and activities. each day also includes a morning and afternoon snack and lunch. Cost is $40 per day, $180 per week or $300 for both weeks. Scholar- ships are available to those who qualify. Registration deadline is Dec. 9. For more information or to register: 503-399-2753.
