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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7 NEWS Hermiston children less prepared for kindergarten Tests given at start of school year have scores lower than state average Head Start based on income. But Head Start has partnered with several local school districts, including Herm- iston, Morrow County and Milton-Freewater to host preschool programs. There are also Early Head Start programs in several cities. Sanders said parents can also do several things at home to help their chil- dren, including simply get- ting their kids to school, being engaged in their chil- dren’s education and keep- ing books around the house. Some local libraries offer reading programs for young children, which can help with early literacy. “In our weekly children’s programs we always strive to work in the early literacy skills and make an effort to explain to parents why we’re doing the things we do,” said Mema Martinez, a Hermiston Public Library employee. Martinez said library employees will focus on one letter of the alphabet for two weeks of storytime, sing- ing songs and reading books that focus on that letter, as well as having children practice writing the letter. The library also has a pro- gram called Ready2Learn, where children from birth to age five can be signed up to receive a free card where they can access books, mov- ies, and activities at the library. Martinez said in compar- ing Hermiston Ready2Learn participants’ kindergarten scores with children who didn’t have cards, kids who had regularly been using their cards and coming to the library had scores almost double those who did not have R2L cards. Hermiston R2L participants scored an average of 19.8 with upper- case letter recognition, com- pared to a district average of 11. R2L participants aver- aged 16.9 with lowercase letter recognition and 12.7 with letter sounds. By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN AND ANTONIO SIERRA STAFF WRITERS Though graduation rates seem like the most obvi- ous way to measure student progress, the key to success starts many years earlier. The Oregon Kindergar- ten Assessment, a statewide test now in its fourth year, is given to each kindergartner within the first few days of entering public school. On average, an incom- ing Oregon kindergartner recognizes more than 14 uppercase and 12 lower- case letters and can identify the sounds that about eight of those letters make. When asked 16 simple math ques- tions such as number and shape recognition and basic addition and subtraction, the students could answer about 11. In many Eastern Ore- gon school districts, how- ever, the numbers are far lower. Hermiston students answered 10.1 math ques- tions correctly, recognized 11 uppercase letters, 8.7 lowercase letters and 5.2 letter sounds. Only Pend- leton and Athena-Weston students tested higher than the state average in all four categories. Jennifer Cox, the assess- ment coordinator for the Hermiston School Dis- trict, said the data collected does not display the impact of full-day kindergarten, because the scores are col- lected within the first few weeks of school. The results instead serve as a baseline for progress made through- out a student’s school career. She said because the teachers administer the tests HH FILE PHOTO Desert View Elementary School kindergarteners participate in an activity during their first week of school in this 2014 photo. to their own students, they are able to immediately access the data and use it to inform their teaching. “They can use it right away to help set up skill groups, create lessons for students,” she said. “If there are students that already know letters, they can go on to working on letter sounds.” Cox said the assessment has been helpful for track- ing statewide trends, but said there were no obvious Burglary co-defendants change plea, reach deal By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER After being found guilty by a Morrow County jury and handed a prison sen- tence of almost 13 years, Daniel Faustino Arce asked to speak to his two co-defendants. District Attorney Justin Nelson said when they were done talking, Desirea Devin of Heppner and Vera Rose Smith of Warm Springs decided to take plea deals instead of going to trial. Nelson wasn’t privy to the conversation after the Feb. 13 sentencing, but said Arce cared about Devin and considered Smith a friend, so perhaps he did not want them to suffer his fate. Still, all three are prison bound . The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police arrested Arce, 29, of Portland, and Devin, 23, of Heppner, after a crime spree Dec. 17 in south- ern Morrow County that involved burglary, armed robbery and firing a gun at victim Roger Britt. The couple also stole a vehicle and tried to ditch it on TREO Ranches, private property outside Heppner that offers pheasant and chu- kar hunting. Arce and Devin tried to set fire to the vehi- cle, according to court doc- uments, and the commotion drew the attention of a crew of pheasant hunters who soon detained them at gun- point until law enforcement arrived. Nelson said Smith was involved in the beginning of the crimes, then broke off. Pendleton police caught her on Dec. 19. The state charged Arce with 14 counts, but at trial merged three counts under first-degree robbery. Cir- mation assessment system, which they hope will target students needing extra help early on. trends to report from recent data. In Umatilla, superinten- dent Heidi Sipe said the dis- trict’s numbers (9.7 math questions, 10.6 uppercase letters, 8.4 lowercase let- ters, 3.5 letter sounds) show their students are behind the state average, even though they have preschool pro- grams and Early Head Start in place. “The correlation data for third grade shows that where kids come in matters a lot,” Sipe said. She added that while the state requires school districts to collect the data, Umatilla looks at the results along- side other assessments. “We’re always focused on student growth,” she said. “Not where a kid is, but their trajectory.” Sipe said the district is also working on develop- ing an early learning infor- Beyond the classroom Umatilla-Morrow County Early Head Start Director Julie Sanders said the data highlights the importance of prepar- ing children for school well before they get there. “What we see in data is that when they enter kinder- garten is really indicative of what progress they’ll make in third grade and beyond,” Sanders said. “I’d say even before kindergarten — pre- school ability is greatly indicative of how they’ll do in school, and if they’ll graduate. Which is why we work so hard to close that gap for low-income stu- dents,” she said. Students are eligible for PRESIDENT’S DAY 0 % APR Financing OR up to EVENT 4,000 $ Cash Back * on Select 2017-18 TOYOTA Models! CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS *Applies to 2018 Avalon After Daniel Faustino Arce (left) was found guilty of robbery and burglary in Morrow County and sentenced to 13 years in prison, co-defedants Desirea Devin (center) of Heppner and Vera Rose Smith (right) of Warm Springs reached plea deals in the case. cuit Judge Dan Hill also dis- missed three other counts. First-degree robbery carries a mandatory min- imum prison sentence of seven years, six months under Oregon’s Measure 11. Most defendants up against a Measure 11 charge, Nel- son said, waive the right to trial within 60 days so the defense team has time to conduct its investigation. Not so with Arce. Circuit court records show the jury delivered unani- mous guilty verdicts on eight counts against Arce and split 10-2 on the first-degree robbery. Nelson also said Arce wanted his sentencing right then. Again, most people ask the court to delay sentenc- ing. Nelson said that helps the defense and prosecutors make sentencing recommen- dations to the court. Nelson said Arce’s move had attor- neys scurrying to make sure the sentence was accurate because the unlawful use of a weapon charge had to run concurrent with the robbery while the other charges were consecutive. The prison sentence added up to 12 years and eight months. After sentencing, Nelson said, the case took another odd turn when Arce asked to talk to Devin and Smith. Devin faced charges simi- lar to Arce’s, while Smith faced first- and second-de- gree burglary, vehicle theft and first-degree theft. Devin then pleaded no contest to second-de- gree robbery, first- and sec- ond-degree burglary and vehicle theft in exchange for a sentence of more than four years, according to court records. Nelson said drug addiction played a signifi- cant role in her life, and now she can get treatment. Smith pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and first-degree theft and took a prison term of 19 months. Nelson said she and Devin can qualify for time off for good behavior and for alter- native incarceration, such as house arrest, if they meet certain criteria. Arce cannot qualify for those incentives for the rob- bery, but he can try to shave time from the rest of his sen- tence. The trio remain in the Umatilla County Jail, Pend- leton. Nelson said they will transfer together to Cof- fee Creek Correctional Facility, Wilsonville, the state’s intake center for new prisoners. Nelson said at the end, he heard one utter: “We came in together, we should go out together.” All New 2018 Camry % 0.9 APR / 72 mos. A NHTSA 5-Star Safety Rating Lease a New 2018 Highlander XLE $ 299 mo. / 36 mos. 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