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.
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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.”
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