News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters Elementary School took home a "satisfactory" grade on the Oregon School Report Card issued February 1.
The middle school and high school report cards were delayed. They should be issued on March 15.
Sisters Elementary School rated "strong" in student performance on a scale ranging from "exceptional" to "unacceptable." The student performance rating is based on students' scores on state mandated assessment tests.
Sisters students out-performed the state average and scores from comparable schools in tests in reading, writing, math multiple choice and math problem solving. Scores also reflected improvement over time.
Sisters rated "satisfactory" in student behavior and school characteristics.
Principal Tim Comfort is not happy with those ratings, which he believes are "simplistic and misleading."
The student behavior rating is based solely on attendance figures. Comfort believes that could lead to a misunderstanding about actual student behavior in terms of discipline and engagement in school.
"We have very good student behavior at Sisters Elementary School," Comfort said.
"They should have just gone ahead and called (the rating) 'student attendance,' he said. "Let's get real."
Sisters' attendance exceeds the state average, but has not improved over time.
Tanya Gross, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Education, which issued the report cards, acknowledged that calling attendance "student behavior" creates confusion.
"It would be better if that heading was 'student attendance,'" she agreed.
The challenge, Gross said, was coming up with empirical data by which to rate schools.
"This year's report card is limited somewhat in that we wanted to use only data that was rock solid, school-to-school, across the state," she said.
The department considered using discipline records, such as expulsion rates, to rate student behavior. But the data could be misleading. A school with a high expulsion rate could be seen as having serious discipline problems -- or it could be seen as a school that takes a hard line with its trouble-makers.
Ultimately, the department decided to drop expulsion rates from the criteria.
Gross defended attendance as a valid rating of a school.
"I think attendance really reflects most on the climate of the school," she said. "Is it a place where students want to be?"
The "school characteristics" category is based on the number of students taking the state tests. Schools rate either "satisfactory" or "unacceptable."
Comfort does not think the behavior and characteristics categories are a valid gauge of a school's quality.
"Did the student behavior and student characteristics give me meaningful information to help me improve my school? No," he said.
The principal plans to include extra information with the report card when it is sent out to parents to give what he considers a fuller and more accurate picture.
And, he believes, the report card will change over time.
"In due time, this will work out," he said. "This is their first run."
The Oregon School Report Card was mandated by the state legislature in 1999 as a means of creating accountability.
The middle school report card has been delayed because the school is new and there is limited data. According to schools superintendent Steve Swisher, the high school report card was delayed because the school has challenged attendance data.
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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