News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters schools will soon tie high school diplomas to performance standards.
The Sisters School Board agreed in their Monday, October 12, meeting that students should have to meet consistent standards to graduate - rather than just show up at school to collect a diploma.
But there is a long debate ahead about where those standards should be set.
Board members agreed that the schools should start immediately to honor students who pass all the state benchmark tests to achieve a "certificate of initial mastery" (CIM). Last year's sophomores were the first to take CIM tests; they could be eligible for an "honors" diploma next year.
But agreement on the standards for a regular diploma should be set may be harder to come by.
A conceptual description of a "standard" Sisters High School diploma would require 26 credits and minimum scores of 235 on state reading and math assessment tests and scores of 3 on writing and math problem solving tests.
Students take the benchmark tests in third, fifth, eighth and 10th grades.
Sophomores who fall short of the standard - wherever it is ultimately set - would have two more years to clear the bar before graduation.
The conceptual basic diploma standards are lower than required for a CIM.
According to schools superintendent Steve Swisher, if such a diploma was in place today, 80 to 85 percent of Sisters students would qualify in reading and writing; 60 percent would qualify in math.
"I have real reservations about making our standard diploma beyond the reach of a number of students in our district," said board member Bill Reed.
The board may decide before the year is out to establish an honors diploma for students who meet CIM requirements.
The discussion over where to set standards for a basic Sisters High School diploma will continue. The first students that could come under new requirements would be this year's eighth grade class.
The school board's goal is to eventually have 85 percent of the student body qualifying for the CIM.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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