___________ 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.
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