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Middle school test results were the highlight Monday as the state Oregon Department of Education released scores for the 2008-09 school year.
The Douglas Education Service District, which serves all county school districts except Reedsport, said its cursory glance at the scores indicates many local schools are also trending upwards.
The state's middle schools, which include sixth through eighth grades, went up several percentage points from last year. Elementary testing of third- through fifth-grade students and high school sophomore testing stayed relatively static, most often showing a change of one percentage point.
Oregon's test results showed eighth-grade reading scores jumped from 65 percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards in 2007-08 to 70 percent meeting standards last year. Seventh-grade math scores jumped from 74 percent meeting state standards two years ago to 78 percent passing last year. Third-grade reading dropped — from 84 percent in 2007-08 to 83 percent last year — and there was no change in elementary math scores.
In Douglas County, the changes are more dramatic, sometimes displaying 10 percent or more jumps or drops over the previous year.
Sutherlin seventh-grade math scores jumped from 70 percent meeting standards two years ago to 86 percent meeting or exceeding standards last year. Roseburg's reading scores for eighth-graders jumped to 69 percent from the previous 64 percent, said Charan Cline, ESD director of student achievement.
Cline said his office just began punching the numbers into their system Monday and may have a six-year graph for all county schools later this week.
The ESD data sheet will be a communication tool, Cline said, for schools to look at their results over time as well as those of nearby schools and discuss strategies each ascribes to their success.
While the results were released to the ESD and the public this week, schools and students get the results immediately after testing.
“Immediate assessment of what (students) know is very powerful, it gives them ownership,” said Doug Freeman, principal at JoLane Middle School in Roseburg. “What good is it if all the adults care but the kids don't know?”
Students can take the state Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test up to three times during testing season, which runs from October through mid-May. Every grade is tested on reading and math, and select grades for science and writing.
Freeman said Roseburg tests with both the state assessment and another test, the Measures of Academic Progress test, for which the district pays. MAPS is an important barometer for each student's progress, Freeman said, while OAKS is a better indicator for the school and district to assess its progress.
At JoLane, the school is close to reaching its goal of all grade levels at 80 percent of students meeting or exceeding the state standards, which means the school's challenge will be maintaining and pushing higher, Freeman said.
Freeman and Camas Valley School Principal Paul Young both said that the OAKS test is a good snapshot of school and student progress, but shouldn't stand alone.
“It's an important data collection, but it's not the only data collection. Parents and schools should be looking at multiple data sources,” Young said. “So we always balance the OAKS against other information we gather.”
With the information gathered at Camas Valley, Young said the school is focusing on literacy improvement in kindergarten through elementary, a move he expects will pay dividends in the future. The student-to-teacher ratio during reading time is often less than four students to a teacher and assistants.
“If you want to get the most bang for your buck, the best investment … is teaching those kids to read and love to read early on,” he said. “Realistically, if a child reads well, when they're learning their math, their sciences, they're not struggling with reading. They're concentrating on their subject mater.”
The Douglas Education Service District, which serves all county school districts except Reedsport, said its cursory glance at the scores indicates many local schools are also trending upwards.
The state's middle schools, which include sixth through eighth grades, went up several percentage points from last year. Elementary testing of third- through fifth-grade students and high school sophomore testing stayed relatively static, most often showing a change of one percentage point.
Oregon's test results showed eighth-grade reading scores jumped from 65 percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards in 2007-08 to 70 percent meeting standards last year. Seventh-grade math scores jumped from 74 percent meeting state standards two years ago to 78 percent passing last year. Third-grade reading dropped — from 84 percent in 2007-08 to 83 percent last year — and there was no change in elementary math scores.
In Douglas County, the changes are more dramatic, sometimes displaying 10 percent or more jumps or drops over the previous year.
Sutherlin seventh-grade math scores jumped from 70 percent meeting standards two years ago to 86 percent meeting or exceeding standards last year. Roseburg's reading scores for eighth-graders jumped to 69 percent from the previous 64 percent, said Charan Cline, ESD director of student achievement.
Cline said his office just began punching the numbers into their system Monday and may have a six-year graph for all county schools later this week.
The ESD data sheet will be a communication tool, Cline said, for schools to look at their results over time as well as those of nearby schools and discuss strategies each ascribes to their success.
While the results were released to the ESD and the public this week, schools and students get the results immediately after testing.
“Immediate assessment of what (students) know is very powerful, it gives them ownership,” said Doug Freeman, principal at JoLane Middle School in Roseburg. “What good is it if all the adults care but the kids don't know?”
Students can take the state Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test up to three times during testing season, which runs from October through mid-May. Every grade is tested on reading and math, and select grades for science and writing.
Freeman said Roseburg tests with both the state assessment and another test, the Measures of Academic Progress test, for which the district pays. MAPS is an important barometer for each student's progress, Freeman said, while OAKS is a better indicator for the school and district to assess its progress.
At JoLane, the school is close to reaching its goal of all grade levels at 80 percent of students meeting or exceeding the state standards, which means the school's challenge will be maintaining and pushing higher, Freeman said.
Freeman and Camas Valley School Principal Paul Young both said that the OAKS test is a good snapshot of school and student progress, but shouldn't stand alone.
“It's an important data collection, but it's not the only data collection. Parents and schools should be looking at multiple data sources,” Young said. “So we always balance the OAKS against other information we gather.”
With the information gathered at Camas Valley, Young said the school is focusing on literacy improvement in kindergarten through elementary, a move he expects will pay dividends in the future. The student-to-teacher ratio during reading time is often less than four students to a teacher and assistants.
“If you want to get the most bang for your buck, the best investment … is teaching those kids to read and love to read early on,” he said. “Realistically, if a child reads well, when they're learning their math, their sciences, they're not struggling with reading. They're concentrating on their subject mater.”
