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As far as tests go, this is The Big One Students begin Certificate of Initial Mastery examinations By VICKI GUARINO After years of trial runs, the tests Oregon is using to measure student achievement are landing on students' desks beginning Tuesday. Those 10th-graders who pass the battery of four tests over the coming three months will receive the CIM -- Certificate of Initial Mastery. Those who fail -- and many are expected to, if previous years' trials are any indicator -- will get remedial classes and more chances at the tests. "It's not a do-or-die thing," Central Point curriculum specialist Dennis Niebuhr says. But he and other administrators around the county say they want students and parents to know the tests are important. Not only do they signify academic achievement at a state-recognized level, but students this year will begin to notice real consequences to their scores. In Medford, for instance, students will have to pass the CIM to enroll in the honors program. "If they flunk the test, they can't get into honors classes regardless of their grades," says North Medford High School language arts teacher B.J. Reed. In Phoenix, students who miss the CIM standards will get special assignments, special classes, perhaps even summer school, says district curriculum director Jerry Sessions. Central Point students face the greatest consequences, however, as their district has gone farther than most others in Oregon to tie CIM to a diploma. This year's junior class will have to pass the CIM writing test, as well as earn sufficient course credits, to earn a Crater diploma. This year's sophomore class will have to pass all present CIM requirements -- writing, reading and math -- to earn a diploma. Crater is gradually incorporating the CIM into its diploma standards, says Niebuhr, and during the first few years will accept slightly lower scores than the state is requiring for the CIM. Although 10th-graders face the CIM consequences this year, students in other grades also will be taking state assessment tests beginning this week. Tests that show how well students are progressing toward the goal of earning a CIM are scheduled for third-, fifth- and eighth-graders. Schools will be giving those tests on much the same schedule as the CIM tests. Some schools, including those in the Eagle Point district, will be giving similar tests to other grades, so all students in grades 2-11 will be tested in coming weeks. "We want to know how our kids would be doing if they were taking the `on-year' tests," says Eagle Point superintendent Ted Adams. Testing begins with writing and math problem solving. The writing exam is a three-day assignment; math is a demanding format in which students must demonstrate their understanding of test problems through their work. The state is requiring the test be given between Jan. 19 and Feb. 12. Ashland obtained a waiver, and students completed their writing exams Friday. Ashland students will take the math test Jan. 25 and 26. Medford students will take the tests over the coming two weeks; in other districts, including Central Point and Eagle Point, teachers and administrators are setting test schedules. The second round of testing -- reading and math multiple choice -- will be sometime from March 29 to April 23. Medford students are scheduled to take the tests from March 30 to April 9. Ashland students will take the reading test March 30 to April 2, and the second math test April 5 and 6. Although students are taking the tests, educators say they, too, are being evaluated. The CIM process has demanded significant changes in curriculum, says Reed. Students' test scores will show how well staff has responded. "I'm pretty eager to see how they do," says Reed. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA