September 22, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A
Grades down in English, math, science countywide
Performance
mirrored other
schools around
state
By Betsy Hammond
The Oregonian
Oregon students lost ground
in reading, writing and math
over the past year, according to
test results released Thursday,
Sept. 14.
Particularly in the elemen-
tary grades, fewer students
achieved proficiency on end-
of-year exams designed to
show whether they are on track
to be ready for college and the
world of work.
No grade level showed
substantial improvement from
2016.
Clatsop County schools
mirrored the state, with most
grades showing declines in
college and career readiness in
English, language arts, mathe-
matics and science.
Astoria fifth- and 11th-grad-
ers largely outperformed the
state average in English and
language arts but fell behind
in math, with a third- or few-
er students college and career
ready.
Seaside fifth-, eighth- and
11th-graders
outperformed
the state average on English
and language arts, but fewer
than 30 percent of those grade
levels reached proficiency in
mathematics. Warrenton-Ham-
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
Clatsop County schools mirrored the state in test results, with most grades showing de-
clines in college and career readiness in English, language arts, mathematics and science.
mond students fell behind on
English and language arts but
nearly matched state averages
in mathematics, especially in
later grades.
How well Oregon schools
prepared high school juniors,
who have just a year before
they face college or the job
market, was less than clear.
Roughly 6,000 students, or
about 15 percent of the junior
class, skipped the tests, which
are more demanding than the
previous generation of year-
end exams. That was a tad more
than ducked testing in 2016.
The new tests, titled Smart-
er Balanced, were developed
by a consortium of 13 states
to measure reading, writing,
listening, math and reasoning
skills that panels of teachers,
professors, employers and oth-
er experts agreed were needed
at each grade level.
Overall, in the three years
the exams have been given,
students in Oregon and most
other states have struggled to
reach the standards they set.
This year, roughly 60 per-
cent of Oregon public school
students fell short in math-
ematics as did 45 percent in
reading and writing. It was the
worst showing yet by Oregon
schools, particularly in lan-
guage arts.
Statewide, all four major
race and ethnic groups —
whites, Latinos, Asians and
blacks — registered lower
proficiency rates than in 2016.
Scores for Asian-American
students, already the top-per-
forming group, dipped least;
scores among white students
fell the most.
How well students per-
formed on the Smarter Bal-
anced tests this year will be
the primary factor driving the
school performance ratings
that the Oregon Department
of Education plans to issue in
October.
But those ratings will re-
quire a more sophisticated
determination than whether a
school posted low, average or
high scores. Instead, the rat-
ings will be based primarily on
how much the school helped
individual students progress
in English and in math from
where that particular student
scored a year or two before.
Performance ratings also
give extra weight to how well
schools succeed with students
who historically have strug-
gled in Oregon schools: mi-
norities, low-income students,
those with disabilities and stu-
dents still learning English as a
second language.
Very few Oregon students
still learning to master English
do well on the exams, which
require reading complex pas-
sages and following multistep
math instructions. But a high-
er share of them registered as
proficient on both English and
math exams this year, making
them the only demographic
group to show strong gains.
Smarter Balanced tests are
designed to measure how well
students have been taught to
master the Common Core State
Standards, a set of rigorous ex-
pectations for reading, writing,
math and reasoning skills ad-
opted by nearly all U.S. states.
Still, the tests have re-
mained controversial. At some
Oregon schools, parents or
students decide that it’s best
for the student to sit them out.
That’s particularly true at some
schools where students gener-
ally do well on standardized
tests.
This year, only 16 per-
cent of juniors at Portland’s
Cleveland High, known for
its academically rigorous In-
ternational Baccalaureate pro-
gram, took the math portion
of the test. More than half the
juniors at Lake Oswego High
and Portland’s Wilson High
skipped one or both exams,
and nearly half skipped both
subjects at Portland’s Grant
High.
Students at Lake Oswego
and some other schools orga-
nized to urge fellow students
to boycott the tests. They say
they do a poor job of measur-
ing readiness for college. They
also complain they place an
undue burden on juniors, giv-
en that many take the ACT,
the SAT, Advanced Placement
exams and other standardized
tests that year.
Test-taking rates among
elementary pupils were gen-
erally very high. But dozens
of Portland-area elementary
schools — mostly ones in com-
fortably middle-class Portland
neighborhoods — fell short of
testing 95 percent of students.
Edward Stratton of The
Daily Astorian contributed to
this story.
School building repairs put on back-burner Local Realtor is honored
Schools from Page 1A
to open for students in 2020.
Meanwhile,
existing
schools continue to house stu-
dents.
During the summer break,
maintenance crews polished
all school floors and painted
at Gearhart, Seaside Heights
and Broadway schools.
Loesch said the district’s
maintenance team also per-
formed integrated pest man-
agement this year on all
school buildings.
“By trimming the trees
up and back and from all the
buildings and all the shrub-
bery so it does not collect
leaves and trash and rodents
so it doesn’t create problems,”
he said.
Leaks in the high school
computer rooms “are in the
works to be patched,” he
added, but pipe repairs at
Gearhart are unlikely to get
attention before students are
moved to the new campus.
At the start of the school
year, Seaside High School
Principal Jeff Roberts said
staff focuses on safety “by
being proactive and making
R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Seaside School District Superintendent-emeritus Doug
Dougherty shows the conditions of the boiler room at
Gearhart Elementary School in 2016.
Seaside School District Su-
perintendent Sheila Roley
at the start of the 2017-18
school year.
for students and will be very
thoughtful in any significant
investments we make in cap-
ital improvements.”
Meanwhile, the district
cleared a hurdle for construc-
tion of the new school by
winning approval for zoning
changes to bring the campus
within the city’s urban growth
boundary.
Work is not expected to
begin until next spring and
the first classes are expected
in 2020.
For now, the existing
buildings will not be likely
to see much in the way of up-
grades or construction.
“We probably would defer
unless it was really critical do-
ing it,” Roley said. “There are
always things. It’s a continual
process.”
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
necessary repairs after routine
checks.”
“We continue to feel
blessed that this communi-
ty supported the initiative to
build new schools that will
support student learning and
keep kids safe,” Roberts said.
“Upon passing of the bond
we have been diligent in our
spending to ensure that our
building is functional and safe
Writing lab at Hoffman Center
Join writers interested in
submitting to the next issue
of the North Coast Squid for
a writing lab, Sunday, Oct. 8,
from 10 a.m. to noon, at the
Hoffman Center for the Arts.
Writers get feedback from
fellow writers and offer in-
sights to other participants.
Submissions are accepted
for fiction, nonfiction and po-
etry with a young writers cat-
egory for those 18 and under.
All submissions are se-
lected in a blind judging by
authors and poets outside the
coastal area. Submissions
of art, photos and photos of
sculptures will also be solic-
ited for cover art and inside
art, with final art chosen by a
committee.
RSVP by emailing north-
coastsquid@gmail.com.
Space is limited.
The North Coast Squid, a
program of the Hoffman Cen-
ter for the Arts and the Manza-
nita Writers Series, showcases
the work of writers and artists
who live on the North Coast
or have a strong connection to
the area. The next issue will
be published in April.
Alaina Giguiere with RE/ of the previous year. To qual-
MAX Coastal Advantage is ify, an individual must have
among the 2,506 RE/
closed 50 transaction
MAX agents and teams
sides or $20 million in
featured in this year’s
closed sales volume and
REAL Trends “Amer-
a team must have closed
ica’s Best Real Estate
75 transaction sides or
Agents” survey. The Alaina $30 million in closed
agents included in the Giguiere sales volume last year.
survey represent less
Giguiere has near-
than one percent of all real es- ly 17 years of experience in
tate professionals in the Unit- the coastal real estate mar-
ed States.
ketplace. This is the first year
The REAL Trends “Amer- Giguiere has been recognized
ica’s Best Real Estate Agents” among “America’s Best.” She
survey ranks participating is also the No. 1 agent in the
agents in the United States Clatsop MLS and the No. 2
based on residential transac- agent for RE/MAX in the state
tion sides and sales volume for 2016.
Dining on the
North Coast
Excellence in family dining found
from a family that has been serving
the North Coast for the past 52 years
Great
Great
Great
Homemade
Breakfast, lunch and
pasta,
Clam
dinner steaks & Chowder,
but that’s
not all...
menu,too!
seafood!
Salads!
powered by
Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days)
Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily)
Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144
TO PLACE YOUR
AD HERE!
ONLY $ 25
music fi rst
per
issue
Seaside Office: 503-738-5561
Astoria Office: 503-325-3211
COASTER THEATRE
PLAYHOUSE
GIVE IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE
Our gift planning team can help you
ou support the missions of OHSU or
Doernbecher Children’s Hospital with many
y kinds of gifts – wills, trusts, real estate,
personal property, stocks or other assets. Our gift planners are ready to help you explore
xplore
the possibilities and make the most of your
our philanthropy.
Sept. 22 - Oct. 28, 2017
CALL OR VISIT US ONLINE TO
O LEARN MORE.
Tickets $20 or $25
Shows begin at 7:30pm
Sunday shows begin
at 3:00pm
COASTER THEATRE PLAYHOUSE
108 N Hemlock St
Cannon Beach, OR
Tickets: 503-436-1242
coastertheatre.com
Office of Gift Planning | 503-228-1730
giftplanning.ohsufoundation.org | giftplanning.dchfoundation.org