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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2003)
Page 10 The iINDEPENDENT, March 20, 2003 State reports cards show differences without much explanation From page 1 out of the report cards makes it somewhat easier to understand what is being evaluated in a particular area. The front of the report card shows both the school’s overall rating and “School at a Glance.” This sec tion includes the components that are evaluated for “school characteristics:” testing partici pation, school size, English lan guage learners, class size, per sonnel and number of expul sions due to weapons. The inside of the card con tains the Academic Achieve ment section, where bench mark testing in reading, writing, math multiple choice and math problem solving results in the Student Performance rating. The overall data are reported for each subject area and com pared to the 2000-2001 school year and to data from similar schools and the state average. The “student behavior” rating is compiled only from statistical data for attendance (and in high schools the drop-out rate). Each school also receives a rating for improvement in test results (assessments), atten dance and dropout rate. Vernonia Schools Both Vernonia High School and Washington Grade School received the lowest possible satisfactory rating overall. Nei ther Mist nor Lincoln schools receive an overall rating. The state tests students at four benchmark levels usually in grades 3, 5, 8 and 10. Lincoln School is not rated because it has only kindergarten, first and second grade students, and state testing does not begin un til third grade; Mist does not re ceive a rating because the stu dent population is too small. However, both schools show attendance below the state av erage, though Mist is the only school in the district to receive a satisfactory attendance rat ing. All other Vernonia schools received a low rating for stu dent behavior (meaning atten dance). Funderburg presented data showing that Vernonia schools have significant problems in the areas of attendance and math ematics, particularly problem solving. The percentage of stu dents meeting state standards in this area is below both the state average and the average for comparable schools. There is also a marked reduction in the percentage of students meeting the standard after the fifth grade benchmark, at the eighth and tenth grade bench mark levels. The percentage of students passing reading and math knowledge and skills (multiple choice) tests is at, or slightly higher than, the state average in grades 3 and 5, but the percentage drops signifi cantly in grades 8 and 10. The percentage of students meet ing the standard for math prob lem solving is significantly be low the state average at all grade levels. S o m e b rig h t spots There are a few bright spots in the Vernonia reports. Fun derburg told the board that dis trict teachers are to be com mended for the high percent age of students meeting the state standards in writing at all grade levels. The district’s schools also received excep tional ratings for school charac teristics based on the high per centage of students taking the state assessments and small class size, compared to the state average. (The small class size also contributes to the higher per-student expendi ture.) Attendance problems Funderburg told the board repeatedly that the district must get serious about addressing problems in attendance and ac ademics. According to Funder burg, ratings in these areas may be worse next year even if improvements are made this year. Funderburg said he would be taking action immediately to improve attendance at all schools and the board will be presented with a new policy soon. WGS teacher llene Grady also told the board that the public needs to be educat ed about the importance of at tendance. Administrative decisions will be made and implemented quickly to improve attendance, Funderburg said, but academic improvements will be a longer process. Data over the last few years of testing indicate prob lems across all grade levels, so improvement in instruction will require collaboration with staff and evaluation of curriculum in order to improve K-12 mathe matics education. B anks S chool D istrict A glance at the bar graph of each school’s overall rating might initially lead to a conclu sion that Banks schools were dramatically “better” than Ver nonia schools, but further analysis of the data does not support that view. Comparisons between the two districts are particularly difficult at the ele mentary and junior high level because Vernonia’s junior high is an integral part of the ele mentary school and is included in that evaluation. Banks Ele mentary (BES) Banks Junior High (BJHS) and Washington Elementary (WGS) in Vernonia, all received overall ratings of satisfactory, though BES and BJHS were solidly in the middle of the satisfactory category while WGS hovers as close to the bottom of the category as possible. D ifferent results While BES improved atten dance by 0.4 percent, just ex ceeding the statewide average and earning a satisfactory rat ing for student behavior, WGS improved attendance by 1.6 percent but received a low rat ing because it was still below the state average. All schools were rated satis factory for academic achieve ment, but Banks students con tinue to pass state assess ments (tests) at levels higher than or equal to the state aver age through the tenth grade benchmark, without the break in testing success experienced by Vernonia students. This may be due, in part, to expanded tu toring offered in the Banks School district by Americorp member volunteers at both BES and Banks High School (BHS). H igh S chools You can rely on Dependable Performance with an Auto Loan from Your Credit Union! Comparisons between the two high schools are both easi er to make and more dramatic. While VHS barely retains an overall rating of “satisfactory,” BHS retains its “strong" rating. The percentage of BHS stu dents meeting the state stan dard at the tenth grade bench mark is above statewide aver ages in every category (math knowledge and skills, problem solving and writing) except writ ing, where the percentages are slightly less than the state aver age. Writing is the one area where VHS students exceed the statewide average. The state issues rating for improvement in assessments, attendance and dropout rate. This is a new area of the report card and graphically presents changes in reading and math test scores over a four year pe riod, comparing the average for 1998-2000 with the average for 2000-2002. Attendance/drop out rates in the two schools are moving in the opposite direc tions. Vernonia attendance has increased from 84.8 percent to 87.6 and the drop out rate has increased slightly, while atten dance at BHS has dropped from 95.4 percent to 93.7 and the drop out rate has de creased. It should be noted that changes in the dropout rate in a small school can be the result of changes in the size of the graduating class or a sin gle student dropping out. Read ing scores remained the same Then and Now... at BHS, and VHS improved reading scores by 10 percent. Most dramatically, Banks math scores improved by a whop ping 20 percent compared to VHS six percent improvement. BHS received an “improved" rating in this category and VHS' rating was “stayed about the same." SA T s co res and a tte n d a n c e SAT scores for Vernonia stu dents taking the national col lege prep exam are below both the state and national averages with an average combined score of 977, and less than a third of students participating. BHS achieved an average combined score of 1016, with more than 50 percent of the students participating. BHS had a slight drop in at tendance, but received a strong rating for student behavior and was still nearly 2 percent higher than the state average. Despite improving attendance by 4.5 percent, Vernonia received a low rating because the atten dance rate remains below the state average. A d d itio n a l info Additional information about schools is available at the fol lowing sites: Report Card Website: re- portcard.ode.state.or.us Departm ent of Education Website: www.ode.state.or.us Database Initiative Website: dbi.ode.state.or.us/reports.htm at Hutchins 1950s Chevy V8 Convertible $2,595.00 19” Black & White TV $169.00 Washer & Dryer $699.00 Refrigerator-18cu Ft. $649.00 Chevy Corvette $53,000.00 20" Color Stereo TV $159.00 Washer & Dryer $529.00 Refrigerator-18 cu Ft. $449.00 S A V IN G YO U $ $ $ S IN C E 1 9 5 6 FEDERAL CREDIT ORION 622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064 503-429-8031 N o m tw r iT P M ÎIt C . Y ■ fffX * K N C Y A U IA N C B E mncy S iam Appliances T V and A P P L IA N C E IN C . www.hutchins.homcappliances.coin e-mail: hutchins.tvappliance@verizon.net 5TH AND BASELINE • HILLSBORO • 503-648-2813
