OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
A return to pre-pandemic life will take everyone
I
n early January, I wrote a col-
umn explaining the reasons I
planned to get the COVID-19
vaccine as soon as I was able.
I’m pleased to share that since
that time, I have been able to receive
the Pfi zer vaccine. I’ve
also been thrilled to see
members of my family
and many of my friends
receive their own protec-
tion through vaccination,
along with three quar-
Jade
McDowell
ters of a billion people
NEWS EDITOR
worldwide.
All three vaccines
off ered in the United States continue
to prove safe and eff ective. On April
1, Pfi zer released updated results
from its initial Phase 3 trial partici-
pants, showing that six months out,
the vaccine continues to strongly
protect participants, who also con-
tinue to see no long-term side eff ects.
Moderna is seeing similar results.
While a small percentage of peo-
ple in the vaccinated group have
tested positive for COVID-19, none
have had a severe case, which is
defi ned by the Centers of Disease
Control and Prevention as a case
resulting in hospitalization or death.
Studies are also forming a clearer
picture that the vaccine greatly
reduces the chances of transmitting
the virus to others.
While the Food and Drug Admin-
istration announced this week it was
temporarily pausing the Johnson
& Johnson vaccine due to six peo-
ple out of about 7 million develop-
ing blood clots after vaccination,
the fact the problem was caught and
addressed after such a miniscule per-
centage of people had it shows what
careful monitoring the vaccines are
going through. And the risk of blood
clots from the vaccine, if there does
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Doris Pitzer, 90, receives her fi rst dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Jessica Marcum during a
vaccination clinic at Good Shepherd Hospital in Hermiston on Feb. 12, 2021.
prove to be a link, is tiny compared
to the risk of blood clots from the
hormonal birth control pills that mil-
lions of women in the United States
take daily, and also tiny compared to
risks of blood clots from COVID-19
itself.
Despite these successes, we still
have a long way to go. Only about
20% of the United States population
is fully vaccinated so far, and scien-
tists estimate we’ll need about four
times as many people who are vacci-
nated or have at least already had the
virus before transmission becomes
rare enough to safely return to “nor-
mal” life.
Unfortunately, in the United
States, this eff ort to make gathering
safe for everyone again as soon as
possible is expected to be hampered
by the estimated one-fourth of Amer-
icans who say they won’t get vacci-
nated. Vaccine hesitancy is partic-
ularly high in rural areas, including
Umatilla County.
It may be easy to state that those
who want protection can receive it
and those who would rather take their
chances with the more dangerous
virus have a right to do so. But like
the rest of this pandemic, vaccination
is also a refl ection on our willingness
to protect others as well as ourselves.
Not leaving the house when you
have a cough or other symptoms
doesn’t protect you, because you’re
already sick. But other people who
must leave the house for work or
school or buying groceries are at the
mercy of those who know they may
be a carrier of COVID-19 but decide
to go out anyway.
Similarly, with masks, the science
is clear that the mask protects people
from the wearer’s germs more than it
protects the wearer from other peo-
ple’s germs. This doesn’t matter if
everyone in the room is masked, but
again, people most at risk of compli-
COLUMN
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The myths and facts of testing in school settings
T
esting has become quite contro-
versial in education. We often hear
about students’ test scores or teach-
ers reporting test results. Then in social
groups, you might experience people dis-
cussing that there is too much testing
imposed on our children in schools. Is there
a misconception?
Depending on your generation and
where you attended school, per-
spectives on student testing
have probably changed dramat-
ically. Testing in schools in the
past was most often for deter-
mining grades in classes over
material taught by the instruc-
tor. Often those tests were
Scott
teacher-developed or may have
Smith
come with the curriculum, cov-
ering the information taught during the
instruction. As we have moved to a more
mobile society we have come to expect stu-
dents to learn the same material, whether in
a little country town or a large city, and no
matter what geographical location, educa-
tion looks diff erent than 25 years ago. Pub-
lishers created curricula for all subjects
along with creating tests to ensure that all
students receive the same instruction.
Testing/assessment in education has
changed over the years and we have also
been able to learn more about how our
brains learn and develop, thanks to science.
We have learned that waiting for a stu-
dent and allowing additional time for them
to catch up may not be the best, and may
make it even harder for the child to learn
because of what we now know about brain
development. Then borrowing from the sci-
ences and using the scientifi c process of
gaining a baseline, applying theory, and
then checking for change means education
takes a diff erent path.
In education, if the child is not showing
understanding we are now able to provide
specifi c instruction at their level and check
for understanding by monitoring, which
is often referred to as testing. If the child
understands the concept, they are ready to
move on; if not, some reteaching is nec-
essary. Past practice often was to assume
students had it because we taught it to the
whole group, or they will catch up and
some will, but many don’t and fall behind.
This is true in both math and reading. Mov-
ing on and hoping in time they will catch
up is more of a myth than reality.
Back in the 1970s publishers were creat-
ing reading materials as fast as they could.
Then they set out to show how their pro-
grams were superior to teacher-based pro-
grams. These curricula provided instruc-
tional materials along with assessments.
During the 1980s studies were completed
showing if teachers used and followed their
programs students scored higher. They took
their results to the U.S. Department of Edu-
cation, getting them to sign off that teachers
needed to follow the programs with fi delity.
We have all experienced changes in
the medical fi eld and the impact on our
health and lives. Look at diabetes for exam-
ple: Twenty years ago the way we tested
sugar levels is much diff erent than today.
ISchools that have embraced using data to
inform education rather than teaching what
a teacher feels is best have experienced
greater student learning growth. There are
not many people who would want the doc-
tors to treat their cancer as they did 40 years
ago. The same should be true with how we
educate our youth.
Students are assessed more in today’s
schools than in the past. In the younger
grades, the short screeners used can deter-
mine if the student knows the skill or needs
additional support and are usually less than
10 minutes. As a teacher, having to screen
each student can seem overwhelming and
feel like all they do is test, but the students
are not spending all that time testing. The
teacher can use that information to adjust
their lessons to give additional instruc-
tion on skills a student might be struggling
with within the curriculum. This allows
the student not to fall behind and keeps
their skills moving forward, whereas in the
past students often fell so far behind that
it was hard for them to catch up with their
classmates.
———
Dr. Scott Smith is a 40+-year Umatilla
County educator and serves on the
Decoding Dyslexia-OR board as their
parent/teacher liaison.
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 14
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Kelly Schwirse | Multi-Media consultant • kschwirse@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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cations from COVID-19 are at the
mercy of those who decide not to
wear a mask around them, increasing
the chances they will catch an infec-
tion from that person.
With vaccines, the person who
is vaccinated is protected the most.
However, evidence continues to
increase that vaccinated people are
far less likely to spread COVID-19.
That directly protects those around
them, including children, people
with allergies and others unable to
receive the vaccine. It also helps
stop the spread throughout a com-
munity, making it safer to do things
like indoor dining in restaurants or
having children in school. Finally,
every infection prevented takes away
another opportunity for the virus to
mutate into a variant that makes peo-
ple sicker or can evade the protection
of the vaccines.
If you’re unsure about getting vac-
cinated, please reach out to your
primary care physician, Umatilla
County Health Department, Oregon
Health Authority or another knowl-
edgeable source to talk through your
concerns. How many people get vac-
cinated in this county and world-
wide will have a signifi cant impact
on what the next year looks like for
all of us.
If you’re not interested in get-
ting vaccinated for yourself, do it for
your neighbor whose fi nancial sit-
uation depends on their restaurant
being able to fully reopen this year.
Do it for your immunocompromised
cousin whose allergies don’t allow
him to get vaccinated. Do it for your
grandmother who could be vulner-
able to “breakthrough” cases after
vaccination. Do it for your niece in
FFA who wants to be able to show
her hog at the fair this August.
Do it for all of us. We need you.
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SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the
Hermiston Herald readers to express themselves on local,
state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer
letters should be kept to 250 words.
No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person.
The Hermiston Herald reserves the right to edit letters for
length and for content.
Hansell keeps children at the forefront
This letter is to introduce Mrs. Sally
Anderson Hansell, who is running for a
position on the Hermiston School Board.
Mrs. Hansell grew up in Hermiston,
graduated from Hermiston High School,
and went on to get her degree in law. She
is a practicing attorney in Hermiston.
She has three children in the Hermiston
schools at this time; she also has to school
her husband, Tyler Hansell, occasionally.
Mrs. Hansell has seen what COVID
has done to her children’s education and
believes your children have been aff ected
too. She believes that school is more than
learning to read, write and mathematics —
it is a place where discipline and respect
are taught. School is a place where chil-
dren see old friends and make new ones.
In Hermiston, some children eat two
meals a day at school. In a way, school is
a mirror of society where children learn
to deal with the same problems that Mom
and Dad do every day. Many of these
things have been taken from our children
during the COVID era. How and when
will these losses be replaced?
I haven’t read or heard of any con-
crete plan to do that. I don’t believe this
is the fault of the local schools, educators,
board or administration. I do believe that
if you elect Mrs. Hansell, she will abso-
lutely make sure that these problems will
be solved for our children.
Please join me in voting for Mrs.
Hansell in the May 18 election.
Mike Mehren
Hermiston
Letters must be original and signed by the writer or writers.
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Only the letter writer’s name and city of residence will be
published.
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