Most schools meet benchmarks, 13 do not

Thirteen of Douglas County's 50 schools have not met federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act, according to preliminary figures for the 2008-09 school year, meaning the local success rate was 72 percent. That's higher than the state average of 67.6 percent.

Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks are part of the act. Schools are required to meet targets each year through student testing. In Oregon, 60 percent of students had to pass the English/language arts state benchmarks and 59 percent of the student population had to pass mathematics benchmarks in the 2008-09 school year to meet the adequate progress standard.

In 2014, the law will require all students to meet state standards.

While the state numbers released last week showed improvement, Oregon Department of Education spokesperson Jake Weigler said the number of schools “in need of improvement,” which did not meet AYP for two consecutive years, was higher than last year.

“We're seeing progress, but it is called No Child Left Behind and we really are focused on identifying where students are falling behind,” Weigler said. “The goal of the law isn't to punish teachers or schools, it is to identify where we can be doing more to help students achieve.”

Douglas County had three schools in the “in need of improvement” category: Tri City Elementary, West Sutherlin Intermediate and Winston Middle School. All three of these schools also receive Title I funding for the high number of lower-income students they serve.

In all three schools, the students with disabilities group did not meet the benchmarks. Sutherlin and Tri City also missed the mark for mathematics and Winston Middle School didn't meet either math or the language arts benchmarks.

Tri City didn't meet its mark in third-grade math for special education students. Principal Brody Guthrie said the status was expected, but didn't leave a great feeling with the staff. The school is working to improve student achievement overall, he said, not just

test achievement.

“It's not a large amount, but it still is something we want to change,” he said. “We don't want failure to be an option because each one of those numbers is a child.”

Tim Larkin, who handles Title I programs for the South Umpqua School District, said the school and district already had a plan of attack, that would include a “trifecta” of additional grant funding, a new intervention model for students who are struggling, and getting parents involved.

“The level by which we did not meet may not have been much, but it is still significant in that we had kids who (did not pass) ... regardless of what the number is, it's kids that are affected,” Larkin said.

John Lahley, superintendent at Sutherlin School District, said he's been in discussions with parents, helping them understand what the status means.

Schools have some corrective measures they need to take in improvement status, which grow the longer schools stay in. So far, Douglas County schools have not had any sanctions put against them aside from the “in need of improvement” designation.

“Passing may be a matter of luck,” he said, explaining that West Sutherlin Intermediate, which serves grades 4-6, missed the mark by 6 percent in the area of students with disabilities on math.

“Two students missed the mark — I'm certainly not going to jump up and down about that. We'll continue to improve,” he said. “It's a measurement tool and it's got a value and it's got some purpose but it's not the only tool in the tool box that ought to be used to determine how well a school is doing.”

David Welker, principal at Winston Middle School, said that his school made significant progress this year — 6 percent better than the 2007-08 year — but knows there are still areas for improvement.

“The history is that we're doing well for our students and we have good programs in place for them,” he said. “We are aware that we need to improve and glad that we have accountability from the state.”

One school's rating, Toketee Falls Elementary School, is still pending.

A final report will be released Sept. 3.

• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.