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60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 19, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 3, 2004 Results from student testing irritate some administrators By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune The final round of 2003-04 state assessment test results offer a mixed bag of good and bad news for Jackson County schools. Ashland, as usual in the annual tests, performed best overall in the county, consistently beating the state average for meeting or exceeding state benchmarks in almost every category and grade tested. Rogue River schools and Medford’s Hedrick Middle school also put in strong results. On the other end of the spectrum, schools in Butte Falls, Eagle Point and White City were at or well below state averages across the board. The results show what percentage of students met or exceeded state benchmarks for multiple-choice tests in writing, math problem-solving and science. Last year’s fifth-, eighth- and 10th-graders took part. Math problem-solving results for 10th-graders were tossed when results were deemed unusable because the questions — recycled from previous years’ rejected questions to save money — were deemed too difficult. Results from reading and math tests were released in early August. Advertisement Although many schools failed to meet or exceed state benchmarks, poor results on these latest test results bring no official repercussions. Most administrators say the data is at best a poor guide for changes needed to make improvements, and at worst an unfair system of gauging student and school performance. Ashland High’s strong showing was the valley’s best in both writing and science, although both dropped 3 and 6 percentage points, respectively, compared to 2003. Ashland eighth-graders were first in writing and math problem-solving and second in science, with 51, 58 and 74 percent meeting or exceeding state benchmarks, respectively. State averages were 37, 36 and 58 percent, respectively. Fifth-graders at Ashland’s four elementary schools placed in the county’s top five in one or more categories — Helman was second in writing and third in math problem-solving; Bellview was third in writing and fourth in science; and Lincoln was fifth in writing, fourth in math. Walker was the only Ashland school with a result below the state average — 38 percent of students met or exceeded benchmarks in math problem-solving versus 44 percent statewide. Rogue River 10th-graders were fourth in writing and second in science countywide. Rogue River eighth-graders were first in science and third in math, while Rogue River fifth-graders were fifth in science out of more than 35 schools countywide. Most local principals and administrators fault the assessment system because it grades different batches of students each year, rather than tracking the same students year after year, which would give them a more accurate picture of how well teaching programs work. On the low end of the state test scores was Eagle Point High, where 29 percent met or exceeded state writing test benchmarks and 38 percent reached science test benchmarks, well below state averages of 48 and 59 percent, respectively. Butte Falls High’s numbers were 30 and 42 percent, respectively. Crater High was third-from-last in writing with 34 percent but above the state average for science at 64 percent. North Medford was fourth-from-last in science with 60 percent. Ashland High Assistant Principal Ken Kigel attributed his school’s success to parents who support students as school volunteers, homework helpers and district supporters at the ballot box, where they’ve backed special levies to stem the pain of declining state support. "I know it comes from a wonderful, supportive community of educators, a well-educated public and a town that’s funded our levies and helped us not lose elections like the other school districts," said Kigel. For the success of Hedrick, Principal Paul Cataldo credited "very hard work by very dedicated teachers who are glad to celebrate the high scores but are always looking for ways to get to 100 percent." For Crater High’s cellar-dwelling performance in writing — down 18 percentage points from last year — Principal Kirk Gibson said, "No one would be happy with that. We’re very concerned, but I don’t know if I can explain it. It’s a different group of students being tested — and each class has a different personality." Is the test a good measure? "No," said Gibson. "It has the inherent problem of not testing the same group each year and I don’t have 100 percent confidence in it." Talent Middle School faced the opposite situation — high in writing, low in science, with a drop of 14 percentage points in math — something Principal Patti Kinney hopes will be remedied with new grant-funded teachers and a new math curriculum, the first in a dozen years. Kinney finds similar faults in the testing and adds that the system doesn’t allow for schools like those in Talent that have a high population of English-language learners who struggle with reading the test questions. On Eagle Point High’s last-place finish, Vice Principal Tiffany O’Donnell said she is "absolutely concerned," and looks to improvement with a new state literacy grant, teacher training and a new computer-based reading program. "Our population is quite disadvantaged — significantly different than Ashland," she said. "They have great programs. We’ve suffered a lot of staff and budget cuts." Eagle Point students, she added, do well with reading in elementary grades, but in middle and high school they drop from 30 to 40 reading minutes a day to about five and are "very resistant and don’t enjoy it." John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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