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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2003)
___________ The INÔEPENDËNT, August 21, 2003 Page 1 f Weaknesses exposed by testing will be emphasis of training From page 10 improve academ ic achieve ment. The sessions will be on Fridays, when students will be released early. Funderburg said he anticipates that some of the Vernonia schools will re ceive low ratings on state re port cards, which are based on last year’s test results. Funderburg discussed a few of the highlights, or low-lights in this case, of state assessment results for the district. He told the board that research indi cates that children who are not reading by the third grade will remain behind for the rest of their academic careers. Thirty percent of third graders in Ver nonia do not meet the state standard for reading and litera ture, compared to a statewide average of 18 percent. By tenth grade, Vernonia students not meeting the state standard for reading and literature rises to an appalling 64 percent, com pared to a statewide average of 48 percent. In writing assess ment, tenth graders failed to meet the state standard at more than twice the statewide average, with 45 percent of stu dents not meeting the standard (state average 22 percent). Scores on math assess ments in the lower grades are not wildly below statewide av erages, but last year’s sopho mores performed abysmally in both mathematics (a multiple choice test) and math problem solving, where students are re quired to show their work. Three-quarters (75 percent) of tenth graders failed to meet the state standard (state average 55 percent) and 78 percent failed to meet the standard in problem solving (state average 50 percent). Statewide assessments are available on the state’s website at http://www.ode.state.or.us. The IN DEPENDENT will review the find ings, in detail, in February or March to coincide with the arrival of state report cards. Also available on the web site are the ratings schools re ceived as required by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB explanation The NCLB identifies schools as making “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) or in need of improvement. It requires evalu ation in nine different sub groups (specified by race, eco nomic status, disability and English proficiency), each of which must have at least 42 students tested in order to be evaluated. Therefore, the only significant subgroup evaluated for Vernonia schools is for eco A Special Invitation Extended To Our Community "Shirley a n d I w ould like to invite fo u r couples from our com m unity to have dinner with us fo r six weeks in a row, com mencing Friday evening, September 12th a t 6:30 p.m ., a n d continuing fo r the follow ing fiv e Fridays. Following our d in ner together, we would like to share with you why Jesus Christ has made such a difference in our lives over the past 3 5 years. It is our desire during the six weeks, to share w ith you the pow erful Gospel o f our Lord, a n d to answer any questions you m ight have. There are no strings attached to our offer o f hos pitality, our only desire is that we might have the opportunity to share our J O Y in Christ w ith you a n d we do mean ‘share a n d not force fe e d ’! I f you are curious a n d interested, please give us a call so that we can make arrangements accordingly, as we feel it wise to keep this to fo u r couples. IF it turns out that there are more than fo u r couples, we w ill schedule another six weeks following the first six weeks. We can be reached a t 503-429-8720. We are lookingforw ard to getting to know those in the com m unity who m ight be experiencing the same emptiness in life that we too experienced in our late twenties a n d the early pa rt o fo u r marriage. O ur sincere appreciation fo r your reading our invitation, a n d hopefully we w ill get to know some o f you through our having dinner together soon! Sincerely because o f Christ, ” D J & Shirley Dickey nomically disadvantaged stu dents. The NCLB requires all students to meet state stan dards by 2014. According to a press release from State School Superintendent Susan Castillo, Oregon’s accountabili ty plan is one of only five state plans fully approved by the U.S. Department of Education. According to instructions for reading the AYP reports avail able on the website, “a school or district that does not meet AYP should not be labeled as failing...The school or district as a whole may have strong ac ademic performance, but the designation may be based on a single factor or a single sub group.” Schools and districts can demonstrate adequate AYP, for each subgroup, in two ways. Each group must meet the participation target and ei ther the academic status target or both the academic growth and graduation targets. As sessments and standards are developed by each individual state and vary from state to state. The NCLB requires that a target percentage of students meet state standards in Eng- lish/Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, both knowledge and skills (multiple choice) and problem solving. Information Funderburg pre sented to the board indicates that, as a district, Vernonia schools met the participation and academic status targets in both ELA and Math. Therefore, the district received an AYP designation as having met the target. However, apparently due to the performance of some subgroup, both Lincoln Elementary and Vernonia High School did not meet the target. Mist Grade Scholl received a “pending” designation. Analysis of NCLB results for Vernonia, Banks and Jewell School Districts will be in the September 4 issue of The IN DEPENDENT. Charter School Kaaren Heikes, of Northwest Regional ESD, briefly reviewed the local charter school propos al. According to Heikes, charter schools vary widely from state to state and Oregon requires schools to be chartered, or ap proved, by the local school dis trict. A change in the law now allows a charter school to be administered directly by the lo cal district, rather than requiring a separate non-profit entity. Heikes expects the district to receive a $150,000 implemen tation grant this year and an other $150,000 next school year. The board will have both a public hearing and a special board, meeting August 28 in the district office, to review the proposal in detail. The proposed school, with the preliminary name of Tech nology Learning Center (TLC), will begin in the fall as an ex tension of the current credit re covery program and, initially, be housed at the high school. The district hopes to be able to share space with the city at the Community Learning Center being developed in the old city hall. Funderburg said that the school is designed to meet the needs of low achieving stu dents, students in engineering and industrial technology CAM strands, school-to-work partici pants, and home school stu- MADELEINE'S MUSIC SCHOOL FALL REGISTRATION Piano ~ Violin ~ Viola Voice ~ G u itar All classes in Vernonia Teachers are members of Oregon Music Teachers Association Call 503-429-9402 dents. Junior high and high school students may apply for admission to the school. Indi vidualized instruction, largely technologically-based, will uti lize on-line courses, interactive video-conferencing, and edu cational software designed to meet district and state perform ance standards in all curricu lum areas. There will be opportunity to obtain more information or to comment on the charter school proposal at the August 28 pub lic hearing. Board Discussion Board chairman Jim Krahn initiated discussion about ways to communicate to the public that the board is driving the ac tions of school administrators, coaches and teachers in an ef fort to make the district “a better place for kids.” Director Darrell Ham blet proposed that the board send a letter home to parents about the changes that are occurring. Krahn said that last year was a “fix-it year”, when the district was constant ly applying Band-Aids to exist ing problems but, this year, the people and programs are in place to move forward. Director Cari Levenseller said that it is important for the public to un derstand that the board is re sponsible and accountable for directing the actions of district employees. Krahn urged those who disagree with new policies to contact board members, rather than administrators. In other business the board: • Approved quotes for food service. • Approved handbooks for staff, students and coaches. • Approved the Career Learning Project, which will re place the senior project begin ning in the 2004-2005 school year. • Hamblet requested that the district investigate moving dis trict funds to Wauna Federal Credit Union. • Approved changing the date of two board meetings: Meetings will be September 25 in Vernonia City Hall and Octo ber 23 at Mist Grade School. UNLIMITED 56K INTERNET For information call 503-429-2701 w w w .a g a lis .n e t
