Sisters again scores high on CIM attainment

The state released CIM (Certificate of Initial Mastery) scores for the class of 2004 last week and, as usual, Sisters stood out in the crowd.

Some 67 percent of Sisters High School graduates earned a CIM compared with only 30 percent of graduates across Oregon. The Sisters number represented an increase of three percentage points from 2003. The statewide number was up one point.

Since 2001, when it first became possible for students to obtain a CIM, the annual proportion of Sisters graduates doing so has risen from 30 percent to the latest 67 percent. The statewide record started at 24 percent and has improved by only six points since.

The Certificate of Initial Mastery was devised as part of the legislated school reform of 1991. To obtain a CIM, a student must achieve a designated proficiency level on statewide tests in reading, writing, math and science. He or she must also complete eight “work samples” that include three essays, three speeches and the solutions to two complex math problems.

Schools vary greatly in the degree of emphasis placed on this achievement. Some teachers and administrators complain that they are handicapped by the fact that a CIM is optional. It is not required for obtaining a diploma or gaining entrance into any college or university, although after the stagnant statewide percentages were reported last week several members of the State Board of Education said they might support making the CIM a requirement for graduation.

The Sisters High School teaching staff believes in the educational value of the CIM program and encourages all students to strive for a certificate. That attitude manifests itself in a practical way through the school’s LINK program, in which every student is assigned a teacher who “travels” with him or her through all four years of high school.

That teacher keeps track of the student’s progress toward a CIM. And several times a year, Karen Withrow, the school’s assessment coordinator, sends all teachers a status report on where their LINK students stand and what remains for them to qualify for a CIM.

Withrow, who is a physics and chemistry teacher, said last week she was not surprised by the continuing improvement in the proportion of the school’s graduates who obtain a CIM.

“Our teachers do a very good job of emphasizing CIM work samples and the quality of work that’s required,” she said. “We also do a good job of tracking the information to make sure they’re getting everything they need.”

She conceded that “it may be a little easier to track in a smaller school than a big one.”

Has anything changed in the way Sisters High School approaches this challenge? “No, I think we’ve found something that works and we just try to keep doing our best at it,” she told The Nugget.

Sisters High outstripped all of its Central Oregon neighbors in 2004 CIM attainment.

The next highest mark was made by Crook County High, where 47 percent of 2004 graduates obtained a CIM.