Grades are in for local schools

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September 01, 2009

By Paris Achen

Mail Tribune

Jackson County schools last year saw wide fluctuations in outcomes in math, reading, science and writing in the annual state assessment, according to a report released Monday by the Oregon Department of Education.

The results of the tests administered to students each year are reported to the federal government and used locally to see what subjects educators need to focus on.

Major trends included an overall decrease in reading scores statewide and countywide in the third grade and general increases in middle school scores in all subject areas, except writing.

"The difficult thing is when we get these scores we are always comparing different groups of children," said Teresa Sayre, instructional services director at the Phoenix-Talent School District.

"We increased our scores in some places and went down in others. It'll take some time to analyze that."

The seesaw effect of scores based on different cohorts is most obvious in tiny school districts such as Butte Falls and Prospect, where a few students can cause radical swings in the overall scores.

For example, in Butte Falls in 2007-08, third-graders boasted the highest reading scores in the county. Last year, the new crop of third-graders at Butte Falls trailed all of the other county districts in their reading scores.

Following the state trend, third-graders in a majority of Jackson County districts, with the exceptions of Ashland and Central Point, saw their overall district reading score decline.

However, among individual schools, Hoover, Lone Pine and Abraham Lincoln elementary schools in the Medford School District, Helman Elementary in Ashland and Lake Creek Learning Center in the Eagle Point district had the highest third-grade reading scores in the county at more than 95 percent.

"Across the board in the district, we have been doing targeted reading across the curriculum," said Todd Bloomquist, the Medford district's human resources director who also oversees curriculum.

Statewide, about 83 percent of third-graders passed reading last year versus 84 percent the year before.

Students are tested in reading in third through eighth grades and 10th grade.

Because third grade is the first time students are tested in the state assessment, that grade level is widely considered a critical juncture for students' reading skills.

At the high school level, Ashland had the highest reading scores with 85.2 percent of 10th-graders passing. The Crater Academy of Natural Sciences, Armadillo Technical Institute, Connections Alternative School and Medford Opportunity High School had the lowest of the county's 10th-grade reading scores, with passing rates of 56.5 percent, 50 percent, 41.2 percent and 41.2 percent, respectively.

Writing

There were no writing score trends in the county, with some districts improving and others losing ground, but writing scores continue to lag behind those in reading.

Fourth-graders and seventh-graders are tested annually in writing.

Bellview Elementary School in Ashland earned the highest fourth-grade writing score in the county, with 74 percent of students passing. Only 13.8 percent of fourth-graders passed writing at Sams Valley Elementary School in Central Point, the lowest score in the county.

Seventh-graders at the John Muir Elementary School in Ashland had a 76.9 percent passing rate, the highest in the county, while White Mountain Middle School seventh-graders in the Eagle Point School District and Butte Falls Elementary had the lowest scores at 21.8 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively.

Math

Statewide, scores in math generally remained about the same or increased, especially in the middle school grade levels, but in Jackson County, the results were more varied.

Rogue River sixth-graders had huge gains in math, going from a 48.7 percent passing rate in 2007-08 to a 71.4 percent rate last year.

"The sixth grade was our shining light in mathematics," said Rogue River schools Superintendent Harry Vanikiotis. "We are very pleased with that. We haven't been able to put our finger on it yet."

Medford and Phoenix-Talent school districts showed gains in middle school seventh and eighth grades, while other districts saw decreases at those same grade levels.

"The (Phoenix-Talent) teachers have worked really hard in middle school mathematics," Sayre said.

Students are evaluated on their math skills in third through eighth grades and 10 grade.

Among individual schools, more than 95 percent of fifth-graders passed math at Abraham Lincoln in Medford, whereas Butte Falls Elementary, Phoenix Elementary and Howard Elementary in the Medford district turned out about a 50 percent passing rate.

Ashland Middle School eighth-graders had the highest passing rate in math at 91.1 percent. Armadillo Technical Institute's eighth-graders in Phoenix had the lowest passing rate in math at 22.2 percent.

At Crater Academy of Natural Sciences in Central Point, only 38 percent of 10th-graders passed math. In Ashland, about 70.6 percent passed math, the highest in the county.

Science

In science, a subject in which only fifth-, eighth- and 10th-graders are tested, scores did not fluctuate greatly in Jackson County.

Eagle Point and Prospect districts struggled with 10th-grade passing rates of 43.9 percent and 41.2 percent, respectively. The highest overall district 10th-grade science scores in the county were in Rogue River at 68 percent.

Crater Renaissance Academy in Central Point boasted a high of 77.5 percent of 10th-graders who passed science.

Fifth-graders passed at higher percentages countywide than secondary students, ranging from 58.3 percent in Butte Falls to 89 percent in Ashland.

Reach Paris Achen at 776-4459 or pachen@mailtribune.com.

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