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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels December 7, 2004 State says Ashland schools make the grade By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland schools received high marks in the state's 2003-04 school report cards that were released today. While school district officials were pleased with the overall results, they were disappointed Ashland Middle School received an overall grade of satisfactory, despite receiving strong marks in all academic categories. They received the satisfactory rating because of a 93.7 attendance rate, which, because of the state's formula system of computing figures, dropped the school to an overall grade of satisfactory. The state requires 94 percent attendance for a strong rating. State officials agreed that this is a problem and said they are working to implement new requirements, so something like this will not occur in the future. This is the sixth year that Oregon has issued report cards, with schools rated from unacceptable to exceptional, covering more than 1,000 schools. The report cards include tests, student performance, student behavior, and school characteristics, which are measured by the percentage of students taking the state tests. Ashland Superintendent Juli Di Chiro said all schools besides Helman Elementary and Ashland Middle School received a strong rating overall, the second highest available. Helman scored an overall rating of exceptional, but it was not counted because the influx of students from now-closed Briscoe Elementary made it considered a new school. New schools have a one-year probation period when they are not ranked. The Oregon Legislature passed the school report card law in 1999 to help public schools communicate with parents and the community about student test performance, school improvement, and other trends. Di Chiro believed such a small percentage point difference for attendance should not be able to change a school's overall rankings. Another concern Di Chiro has is on the lack of parent reaction to the results. "In reality, in five years, I've never had one call or complaint about it," she said. "I'm not sure it connects well with the public." Middle school Principal Dale Rooklyn said he was disappointed the school received an overall score of satisfactory, despite receiving scores of strong in all categories except attendance. "It's not fair when you work so hard and make academic growth," Rooklyn said. He said the school had a few bad cases of the flu that went through the school last year, which caused the attendance rating to drop. "Attendance is not reliable because, for the most part, you can't control it," he said. Standards revisited Gene Evans, communications director for the ODE said his department and state Superintendent Susan Castillo are aware of cases such as Ashland Middle School. "There are aspects of it that are unfair," he said. "Because you have to draw the line somewhere, sometimes schools fall below the line." Evans said the ODE tentatively plans to make changes to the report cards for 2006-07. While details are still being worked out, he said the ODE plans to make the new formula better reflect academic scores. "We need to take a look at the formula, and we're working on that," he said. "I don't think it's an accurate picture to say Ashland Middle School is satisfactory because of a difference of 0.3 (percentage points) in attendance." Evans said the Ashland School District received one of the highest overall scores of any district in the state. "The Ashland School District rocks," he said. "I think you guys have something special there to be proud of." At Helman Elementary School, Principal Barbara Fields was proud her school received an exceptional score, even though it does not technically count. "I think we've done a lot of work over the years with student learning and to make every child successful," she said. "We all learn in different ways." Fields said the school attempts to quickly identify students who are struggling with their learning and to help them. This includes working with specialists in subjects such as math and reading, and receiving individual attention from teachers or teachers' aides, she said. "We have a lot of innovation here, and we try to be on top of any problems," Fields said. In Jackson County, Jacksonville Elementary School received an exceptional ratings for the sixth straight year, making it one of only three schools in the state to accomplish this. Talent Elementary School received a rating of strong, while Talent Middle School received a satisfactory rating. Armadillo Technical Institute, a Phoenix charter school, was listed as unacceptable. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ciara Lyrics & Pictures libor rate Radiotelephone Communication Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Calendar lil jon eastside boyz Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems The game rapper Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams