Schools exceeding state average

The 2011-2012 OAKS test scores arrived on the eve of Wednesday's board meeting, leaving no time for detailed analysis. However, Superintendent Jim Golden did have time to get an overview of the district's performance relative to the state average.

"In general, we scored higher than any of the other Central Oregon schools, and higher than the state average," said Golden, "Overall I feel very happy with the work that we have done. The changing of the score targets for both math and reading make if difficult to interpret the results (comparing last year to this year)."

The board will review the results in depth at their next public workshop on Wednesday, September 26, at 3:30 p.m. at the district office.

Sisters students exceed state averages, often substantially, in all but one category. Only third-grade math falls below the state average of 64 percent meeting or exceeding standards with a reported score of 61 percent. Rated in the top five percent of similar schools, and as one of only 27 elementary schools in Oregon to be designated a "model school," Sisters Elementary School is prepared to address this shortfall.

"There are three groups (of students) that we need to get better at as a nation and we need to get better at as a school district. We need to improve giving an education to low-income students, special-education students and Hispanic students," said Golden.

The OAKS tests are given to all Oregon public-school students during the school year and the results are reported at the beginning of the following school year. The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) says, "As part of our work to improve the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) - the adopted name for the larger Oregon statewide assessment system - Oregon has partnered with American Institutes for Research to create a new online testing system that will assess students' mastery of Oregon content standards."

There are two issues with the OAKS testing going forward. First, the "cut scores" (targets) for math and reading changed last year, making year-to-year comparisons difficult. Second, after one more year of OAKS testing, the state will move to a nationally normed "Common Core" testing sequence.

Oregon Department of Education says, "ODE currently supports up to three annual test opportunities per student in Reading, Math, and Science and two opportunities in Social Sciences. Starting in 2014-15, Oregon will begin administering the Common Assessment in Math and English Language Arts developed by the SMARTER Balanced Consortium.

"Under the Common Assessment, students will likely have only one test opportunity per subject. As part of the transition to the Common Assessment, ODE is considering whether to reduce the number of test opportunities per subject starting in 2012-13."