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A18 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
ASSESSMENT:
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ered on track in English, and
only 40.8 percent in math. At
the 11th-grade level, the state
average was 67.2 percent in
English and 30.5 percent in
math.
In western Umatilla County
and Morrow County, Stanfield
11th-graders posted the best
scores on both tests. The stu-
dents exceeded the state average
in English with 77.4 percent
considered on track and narrow-
ly missed the state average in
math with 29 percent on track.
Stan¿eld Secondary School
Principal Bryan Johnson said a
variety of factors contributed to
the students’ success.
“We’ve just really focused
over the last few years on
trying to teach the Common
Core State Standards and im-
plement those,” he said. “Our
teachers just did a good job of
breaking down those standards
to make sure they’re covering
them within their classes. It’s
nothing super fancy. I think
it’s just strong teaching and as-
sessing and a lot of preparation
on the teachers’ part.”
Unlike the previous test,
the Smarter Balanced as-
sessment questions are not
multiple choice. Students
are required complete per-
formance tasks, where they
must read a passage, watch
a video or look at an illustra-
tion and think critically to an-
swer questions, Johnson said.
All of the secondary school
teachers implemented per-
formance tasks within their
curriculum last year, he said,
so the students were better
prepared for the test.
Johnson said the school
utilizes a daily advisory peri-
od to provide additional sup-
port to all students. During
this time, the students all
completed practice tests,
which helped them as well.
He also said the current se-
niors were a strong group of
students.
“They’re really motivat-
ed,” he said of the current
seniors. “I think that group
really looked at it like a chal-
lenge, and they got after it.
The credit really goes to the
teachers and the students.”
Echo 11th-graders also
exceeded the state average in
English last year, with 71.4
percent on track. Across all
grade levels in English, Echo
was just short of the state av-
erage with 53.2 percent on
track. Only 14.3 percent of
the district’s 11th-graders last
year were on track in math,
but across all grade levels the
district was closer to the state
average with 34.6 percent on
track.
Across all grade levels,
Hermiston students were
within 5 points of the state
average in English and 3.4
in math — with at most sin-
gle digit variances from the
state average at every grade
level through eighth. How-
ever, the percentage of last
year’s 11th-graders on track
on either test were worse than
any other grade in the district
— and the students lagged
behind the state average by
double digits on both tests.
Only 41.9 percent of last
year’s Hermiston 11th-grad-
ers who took the test were on
track in English, compared
to 58.1 percent of district
eighth-graders. Only 20.3
percent of 11th-graders were
on track in math, compared to
35.8 percent in eighth grade.
Assistant Superintendent
Bryn Browning said the high
school numbers may be mis-
leading because some stu-
dents who had already met
graduation requirements opt-
ed out of taking the Smarter
Balanced test. While the state
test is one way to meet gradu-
ation requirements, other op-
tions are available. She also
said, of the students who did
take the test, many who did
not need it to graduate may
not have taken the test seri-
ously.
“We are concerned by the
low score of the kids who did
test,” she said. “We’re still
actually analyzing the scores
from the high school. It is a
low number, and we know
those kids can do better. Is
it because they missed it? Is
it because they already had
graduation taken care of? We
will see.”
At Hermiston elementary
schools, Browning said the
results were similar to pre-
vious years with the old test.
She said the new test per-
formed at each grade level,
rather than only 5, 8 and 11,
will help teachers in the low-
er grades because it provides
more data. Teachers are al-
ready analyzing the results
from last year about the stu-
dents in their class this year,
she said.
Umatilla School District
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
said, although the district’s
English score across all grade
levels was poor, the results
show signi¿cant improve-
ment at each level from grade
4 to 11. While only 19 per-
cent were on track at grade
4, 59.3 percent were on track
by grade 11. The district has
been teaching students to
read in their native language,
English or Spanish, for about
15 years, she said. While this
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
The district’s math scores,
however, were a surprise,
Sipe said. Only 14.9 percent
of students across all grade
levels were on track in math,
and each grade level was
more than 20 points behind
the state average.
Sipe said local math tests
showed tremendous student
growth, so the district may
need to reconsider how its cur-
riculum aligns to Smarter Bal-
anced expectations. She also
said the style of the new test
may have impacted the scores,
and the district is “diving into
the math data” to determine
the best course of action.
Sipe said, although the
new test was designed to hold
students to higher standards,
she assumed students who re-
ceived grades of “C” or better
would have been considered
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often hurts standardized test
scores in elementary school,
she said it pays off later.
“It’s a long-term approach
to literacy that we know,
based on years and years of
data, gives us stronger re-
sults,” she said. “I’m very
pleased with our progression
in English language arts, and
it is very similar to what we
expected to see.”
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on track. She said, after an-
alyzing middle school data,
however, she determined all
of the district’s students who
were considered on track re-
ceived high “A” grades in
their math classes.
Although the new assess-
ment considers only scores of
three and four to be on track,
Oregon Department of Edu-
cation Deputy Superintendent
of Public Instruction Salam
Noor said in a statement that
scores of two on the Smarter
Balanced math test and the
reading portion of the English
test represent “an equivalent
level of achievement as re-
quired on Oregon’s former
state tests.” The state board
of education voted to allow
those lower scores to satisfy
graduation requirements ear-
lier this month.
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