Board examines testing practices

The Sisters School Board is looking into the possibility that several elementary teachers used improper procedures in administering statewide math tests to the school’s third graders this year.

Superintendent Ted Thonstad led an internal investigation of the issue during much of February. The board took up the question the week of Feb. 27 and after three private executive sessions asked for an external review under the direction of High Desert Education Service District attorney John Witty.

Witty has asked former state mediator Nancy Brown of Portland to do the actual investigating. She is expected to talk to those involved this week and complete a report by Monday, March 13.

School officials are purposely providing scant public information about the case in what they describe as an effort to preserve a sense of fairness and objectivity until all relevant facts are known. That also appears to be part of the board’s motive in assigning the case to ESD attorney Witty.

A brief formal press release announcing the investigation, issued Friday, March 3, said in part: “On Monday night, February 27, the Sisters School Board of Directors learned that correct test administration procedures may not have been followed in some recent state assessment tests administered in the Sisters School District. The School Board has requested of the High Desert Education Service District legal counsel that they conduct a thorough and unbiased investigation.”

Neither board members nor the superintendent have been willing to say publicly exactly what the teachers in question are suspected of doing or failing to do. Nor have they named the teachers or said whether the practices that are causing concern have been used just this year or in past years as well.

Aside from the official press release, the only other informative document to enter the public domain is an e-mail letter that Thonstad sent to Tony Alpert, director of assessment for the Oregon Department of Education, on March 2. It said in part:

“Last Tuesday, February 28, 2006, I left a voice mail message informing you that there was a possibility that appropriate test administration procedures were not followed in administrating the third grade math test. The district is currently conducting an investigation of the situation and will provide a summary of the process, findings and results within 30 days of the February 28, 2006 date.”

Thonstad said such a notification is required by the rules governing state assessments. In response to The Nugget’s request for a statement providing an overview of the case, School Board Chairman Jeff Smith offered the following: “We have hired an experienced investigator who can move quickly to gather all of the facts. She will be respectful of the rights of all of the individuals involved.”

Kelly Powell, president of the Sisters Education Association (the teachers’ union), was asked whether the union is playing any role in the matter.

“I guess for right now I’m going to have to refer you to Jeff Smith,” he said. “Because of this investigation I think it’s the right thing to do for the district to make sure we’re doing it right.”

Elementary School Principal Jan Silberman, who helped lead the internal investigation, said third-grade tests are the main subjects of inquiry. But Thonstad said the number of people who might have been involved in allegedly improper activity has not yet been determined.

Silberman is new to the school this year. Her immediate predecessor, who was principal for the previous 10 years, was Tim Comfort, who is now the district’s personnel director. When asked last week whether any suspected testing improprieties arose during his tenure, Comfort declined to comment. He explained that in fairness to all interested parties he feels obliged not to discuss the case publicly until the investigation has concluded.

ESD attorney Witty, who lives in Redmond, said the new investigator, Nancy Brown, worked for a number of years as a mediator with the state Employment Relations Board, which handles public sector labor relations. She eventually became the board’s chief conciliator. Since retiring about five years ago, Brown has offered her services as a private arbitrator, mediator and labor relations consultant under the business name Employment Relations Alternatives.

“She is very highly regarded by everybody and has done business with both the associations (school unions) and the employers,” Witty said.

The math tests in question are part of statewide assessments, standardized tests in several basic subjects given annually to students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 10. Results of these tests form the basis of ratings that all Oregon schools receive in the annual “report cards” issued by the Oregon Department of Education. The test results are also used to determine whether each school has achieved “adequate yearly progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

High scores on these tests have helped Sisters Elementary to obtain an Exceptional rating — the highest possible — on the state’s report card during three of the past four years, including last year.