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