Sisters schools get their annual report cards

One went up, one went down and the other stayed the same. That's a Goldilocks version of Sisters schools results on the state "report cards" for 2003-04, issued by the Oregon Department of Education last week.

The overall grades on these cards are expressed in the form of adjectives. In descending order, they are: Exceptional, Strong, Satisfactory, Low and Unacceptable.

In the most recent ratings, Sisters Middle School rose to Strong, a step above its Satisfactory mark the year before. Sisters Elementary School slipped back to Strong after two years with Exceptional marks. And Sisters High School drew the same Satisfactory rating as the year before.

Whether their ratings move up or down from year to year, administrators and teachers these days don't get very excited about their state report cards. It is an understatement to say they do not consider the cards the final word on the quality of their schools.

In fact, there is discussion about whether the state should even bother with this tool now that the federal government has somewhat usurped the function through its No Child Left Behind Act (see story, page 31).

When asked their reactions to the latest results, the principals of Sisters' schools all noted that the main determinants of a school's grade are the average scores on the statewide assessments administered each year to students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11.

Thus, the cards do not reflect a variety of other factors related to educational quality. Moreover, schools are judged not on whether a given group of students shows improvement from year to year but on whether this year's third graders, for example, do better on standardized tests than last year's.

And high average test scores per se do not assure a high state grade. For Strong or Exceptional ratings, the report cards require improvement from the past, even if past scores have been outstanding.

High School Principal Bob Macauley, while not complacent, was somewhat resigned to his school's Satisfactory grade.

"We're not unhappy, we're not upset, and we're not going to change what we're doing," he said.

He said the report card "is not as good an indicator as it should be." He noted that if Sisters High "plateaus" at a high level and another school plateaus at a lower level (in average test scores), "we'll both come out with a Satisfactory rating."

He said it would make more sense to track the same class all the way through, which the school actually does for its own purposes.

Sisters High School has received Satisfactory grades for the past two years.

Three years ago, on the report card for 2001-02, it was rated Exceptional.

At Sisters Elementary School, Principal Tim Comfort said, "Sure, I'm disappointed" at getting a Strong grade after two years on the top rung. "It would have been great to have a 'threepeat.' We would have been one of very few schools to ever do it. In fact, the other schools that could have done a threepeat, like us, didn't do it either. None of us made it.

"I'm glad we're Strong, though." Comfort added. "I would have been very disappointed if it had been a Satisfactory because there are so many things we have done well and still have very high student achievement."

In any case, he concluded, "we're still exceptional in my book. We have had outstandingly high achievement, we are still way above the state average. I'd also say that the larger a school gets the more difficult it is to get an Exceptional rating and I'm proud that we're a pretty good sized elementary and we're still doing outstanding."

The most outspoken critic of the report cards was Lora Nordquist, whose middle school was the only Sisters unit to move up a notch for 2003-04.

Was she pleased? "I'm not particularly," she replied. "I mean, I guess I'm pleased because of the public relations. But two years ago I said to the board we'll be back at Strong in two years because I know the population of kids coming through and the test scores are the primary indicator (for the report card)...

"It's a game. I don't find the report cards very meaningful myself...I have no problem with having (standardized tests and publicized scores), but that's one piece of information about our school and I would argue that most of the general public couldn't care less about the report cards. In the years that we've done them I've never had a single parent ask me one question about the report cards."

Many other factors should be taken into consideration rather than the few on the report cards, dominated by test scores, she said. "Studies show the biggest concern parents have is that their school is safe. So that would be a piece of information they would really like to hear about."

While acknowledging that she would "rather get a Strong than an Unsatisfactory," Nordquist said: "I stand by what I've said for years. I think the Sisters School District has three strong schools. I don't think we have any exceptional schools yet.

"I'm hoping that someday we'll have all three exceptional schools but right now I believe that all three schools are strong and the middle school isn't doing a better job than the high school and the elementary isn't doing a better job than the middle school. I really feel that we're all solid, strong schools."