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SUNNY Temp: 60 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, August 28, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend August 12, 2003 County schools fall shy of goals All local high schools below rigorous new U.S. standards From wire and local reports Jackson County schools account for 15 of the more than 360 across the state that have been told to improve student performance, or face a range of consequences mandated by the federal government. The overall figure is about 30 percent of all the public schools in the state, according to the Oregon Department of Education. Every public high school in the county fell short of the standards. Of the 139 high schools statewide, Portland, Corvallis, Bend and Salem placed all theirs on the list, which includes all but one in Eugene. Seventy-six of the remaining schools are elementary schools, while 117 are middle schools or junior high schools, according to a count by The Associated Press, while 30 of them are combined- grade schools. Advertisement Scores still need to be finalized on a handful of other schools. The designations were made under President Bush’s signature education law, dubbed, "No Child Left Behind." The law requires schools to test students every year, and to demonstrate that rising percentages of children are scoring at or above target levels on reading and math tests. Along with Jackson County’s public high schools, many local middle schools also fell below the standard, including Eagle Point, Hedrick, McLoughlin, Scenic and Talent middle schools. Jackson Elementary School in Medford was the only elementary school in the county to miss the federal designation. "They applied some really rigorous criteria to schools," Medford Curriculum Director Phil Long said Monday. "It means we’re being held accountable to a higher standard." Long said Jackson Elementary School — which serves the highest number of disadvantaged students in Medford — failed because of poor attendance. To meet standards, student attendance must average 92 percent or higher. Long said student attendance at Jackson was 91.33 percent. "It has nothing to do with their academic program," he added. "Students are meeting state benchmarks." Juli Di Chiro, superintendent of schools in Ashland, said the only reason her high school was on the list was because of an error, because students who had withdrawn from school were not taken out of the testing pool. She’s all for accountability, Di Chiro said, but some areas of the federal No Child Left Behind act give her pause. For example, as soon as children learn to speak English they are moved out of that category, as are special education students. "There’s always going to be a group of kids who are learning English, who do not yet have the facility to score along with their age-level peers," she said. "Because of such things, most schools will eventually not be able to demonstrate adequate yearly progress and I don’t think that is healthy." Statewide, most schools on the list were there because of the performance of students with disabilities and children who don’t speak English, said Gene Evans, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Education. While the bulk of schools designated as "needing improvement" are in Oregon’s urban areas in the Willamette Valley, only four counties in the state are so far without any such schools: Sherman, Wallowa, Gilliam and Baker, all rural counties east of the Cascades. If test scores don’t rise, schools face a series of consequences. Schools that fail two years in a row would have to pay transportation costs for students who want to transfer. After six years of stagnation, teachers and principals could lose their jobs. The catch, school officials say, is in the way scores are considered: student performance is broken down by categories, including by ethnic group, poverty level, physical and mental handicaps, and English-speaking ability. If even one of those groups falls below testing targets, the entire school will bear the consequences. This year, only about 40 percent of students were required to score at or above proficiency levels on reading and math tests for a school to avoid being tagged with the "needs improvement" label. But by 2014, 100 percent of students will be expected to meet the targets. "Showing some growth from year to year is realistic, but meeting a 100 percent goal is, I think, unrealistic," said Judy Graham, superintendent of the Lake County school district, where the single high school did not meet its targets. "We have some severely handicapped students, as does every district in Oregon probably, and by golly, I just don’t think it is possible at all." Last year, about 8,600 schools nationwide were listed as needing improvement, but only a small handful of them were in Oregon. The numbers jumped so dramatically this year because more schools started reporting data broken down by subgroup, officials said. The list now includes some of the state’s best-regarded high schools in its wealthiest enclaves, including Lincoln High in Portland and Lake Oswego High School. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times