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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
EDUCATION A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020 School districts try to make up for lack of report card data Pandemic canceled state testing for 2019-20 By ANTONIO SIERRA STAFF WRITER All the local school dis- tricts showed incomplete progress on their state report cards for 2019-20, but that was by design. The report cards released to the public by the Ore- gon Department of Educa- tion on Thursday, Oct. 15 did not include ninth grade on-track for graduation fi g- ures, attendance data and test scores the state usually Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File Ely Cardenas receives his diploma at Hermiston High School’s commencement ceremony on June 4, 2020. Graduation data is one of the only things featured on this year’s report cards given to schools by the state. shares with the district and the public, accounting for the pandemic that has forced students to learn from home since last March and caused state testing to be canceled in the spring. All that remains in this year’s report cards is grad- uation data and demo- graphic data for students and teachers. “It’s not a useful doc- ument,” said Hermiston School District Assistant Superintendent of Teach- ing and Learning Bryn Browning. Instead of relying on the data supplied by the state, Browning said Hermiston teachers are administering their own formative assess- ments to determine where their students need help aca- demically. But given that these tests will be admin- istered online instead of in person, Browning said it was far from the ideal way to gauge student performance. Browning considered the district’s 74% on-time grad- uation rate a bright spot, although it was still below the state’s 80% rate. But compared to where the district was fi ve years ago, when it only graduated about 64% of its seniors on time, the 2018-19 gradua- tion rate listed in the recently released report cards rep- resents a vast improvement. Umatilla School Dis- trict’s on-time graduation rate was 87% for 2018-19. Stanfi eld School Dis- trict’s rate was 94%. Echo School District was 87%. Morrow County School District was 88%. The report cards for each district can be found on the Oregon Depart- ment of Education’s web- site at oregon.gov/ode/ schools-and-districts/ reportcards. COLUMN The importance of reading to children can’t be overstated For generations we have heard how important it is to read to children. It pro- vides adult time that the child (or children) so often crave. You model reading and share in the adventure or learn about the subject matter. There are so many benefi ts that impact chil- Scott Smith dren and they GUEST COLUMNIST will apply them later in their classrooms at school and for life. Taking the time to have your child sit and read with you has a big impact on their attention span. Learn- ing to sit and listen is not a natural behavior. We are wired to move. Having your child sit and listen is teach- ing them and training them that there are times when you have to focus on infor- mation they might not be so interested in. Start off slow. You have to remember the child wants control and the way this is accomplished is by getting you off task. You might have to start with two minutes of sitting and look- ing at a book. Then later in the day or the next day add a minute. Make each ses- sion longer and soon they will realize they are get- ting your time. Later when they start attending school, they have an easier time sit- ting and focusing on what is happening in the classroom. Again, this is not a natu- ral thing to do but a taught behavior. If the child is strug- gling with paying atten- tion, having them draw or color while you read will defeat the purpose of read- ing to the child. You have changed the focus of learn- ing and now are reading for your pleasure not the child’s skill-building. When they draw or color as you read it appears that you are receiv- ing the behavior you want. They are engaged, how- ever they are not engaged in learning to sit and listen to expand their ability to learn. The focus of reading to the child is to help the brain develop skills the child will need when they are older. While reading with the child it is important to inter- act with them. Talking about the pictures and what the characters are doing or are going to do helps keep their attention. Pre-school- ers are not reading but they can listen. Remember, lis- tening is a learned skill. Talking about what is being read and discussing it builds understanding or compre- hension. Listening under- standing and comprehen- sion will then transfer to reading understanding and comprehension when they are older and in school. When children reach the intermediate grades, we see them often struggle with comprehension about what they have read. Quite often they also struggle with language comprehen- sion. We have to build the child’s ability to compre- hend what they have heard before they will be able to apply that skill to their own reading. Often many teach- ers feel they have to focus on reading comprehen- sion when their students have not yet acquired the skills of language (listening) comprehension. There is NO question one of the best things you can do for a child is to read to them! If you wish to have a huge impact on a child’s learning as they get older, it is key to build their endur- ance in listening, reading, and discussing. It may only start with less than fi ve min- utes. Once you let them draw or color, remember the learning skill has changed and you are teaching them that, “If you do not want to do what I want you to do, it is okay to draw or color.” Reading and discussing what is happening builds pathways in their brain that will later transfer to their own reading comprehension and to life. As you are out driving with your child and see a lake you can ask them BMCC offering two virtual college fairs Blue Mountain Commu- nity College and the Inter- Mountain Education Ser- vice District have teamed up to bring two virtual college fairs to local students who want to explore their options after high school. The fi rst event is Tues- day, Oct. 27, from 1-5 p.m. The second will be Monday, Nov. 2 from 8 a.m. to noon. More than 10 colleges from the region will partic- ipate. According to a news release, students will be able to learn about programs offered at the college, the admissions process, schol- arships and fi nancial aid for students from all back- grounds including undocu- mented students. Students, parents and others who wish to partici- INVITATION Good Shepherd's -Virtual- visit the link above or con- tact BMCC’s admissions offi ce at 541-278-5936 and leave a voicemail to be con- tacted by an admissions counselor. HERMISTON HERALD Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File Blue Mountain Community College is hosting two virtual college fairs. The events, for students who want to explore their options after high schoool, are set for Tuesday, Oct. 27 and Monday, Nov. 2. pate should register to attend ahead of time at bluecc. edu/enrollment-services/ campus-tour-information. Educators can register their entire class for a vir- tual fi eld trip. Participants can RSVP even if they are not able to participate for the entire length of the event. Students who participate can enter in drawings for prizes. For more information, 3rd Annual Community Meeting Meet our new President & CEO, Brian Sims, with a video presentation on our Annual Report, accomplishments, and a review of our new physicians and providers! JOIN US VIRTUALLY October 28, 2020 5:00-6:00 p.m. www.gshealth.org/annualcommunitymeeting RECYCLE! CARDBOARD • NEWSPAPER • GLASS • TIN • ALUMINUM EIGHT LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU! 1. Hermiston - 220 W. Harper Rd. 2. Stanfield - W. Wood (by Grange Hall) 3. Echo - 321 W. Main St. (next to Fire Hall) 4. Umatilla - Hwy 730 (next to Columbia Harvest Foods) 5. Umatilla County - Hwy 395 N. (next to transfer station) 6. Umatilla County - 81144 N. Hwy 395 7. Irrigon - 198 W. Columbia Lane 8. Boardman - SE Front Street INSTRUCTIONS FOR RECYCLING: Newspaper - loose or placed in grocery sacks. (no plastic sacks) Cardboard - flatten all boxes (sorry, no waxed cardboard) Bottles & Jars - Give ‘em a rinse (labels are OK to leave on). Separate them by color - clear, green or brown (sorry, no Pyrex, china or window glass) Aluminum - cans, TV trays, foil, etc. are acceptable. Please flatten cans to save space. Tin - Rinse cans. Remove both ends, flatten can. Lids also accepted. Sanitary Disposal, Inc. Hermiston/McNary Hwy • Hermiston 541-567-8842 questions like, “Do you think there are fi sh in that lake, like in our book?” By doing this you are taking reading to your child to a whole new level of inferencing and prediction. Who knows, they might be the child who understands things uniquely and is able to make changes in our world we had never thought about. Keep reading and dis- cussing with your children. ——— Dr. Scott Smith is a Uma- tilla County educator with 40-plus years of experience. He taught at McNary Heights Elementary School and then for Eastern Oregon Univer- sity in their teacher educa- tion program at Blue Moun- tain Community College. He serves on the Decoding Dys- lexia — OR board as their Parent/Teacher Liaison. “I will stand behind you, beside you or in front of you.” - Jim Doherty
