Sisters schools score well overall on report card

School performance scores released in September and Oregon Report Cards mailed to district homes on Thursday shine a light on Sisters School District's outstanding performance - as well as on areas where work is still needed.

For students that met or exceeded state standards in reading, for grades 3-5 Sisters was 16 percent above the state average; for grades 6-8 the district was 15 percent above the state average; and for grade 11 Sisters was nearly 8 percent higher than the state average.

In math, 3-5 was 18 percent higher; 6-8 was almost 8 percent higher; and 11 was 4 percent higher.

In writing the only grade tested, grade 11, was nearly 17 percent higher.

In science grade 5 was more than 27 percent higher than the state average; grade 8 was 21 percent higher; and grade 11 was 19 percent higher.

Compared with the average of school districts in Oregon and more specifically in Central Oregon, the Sisters School District is doing well, with an average across all three schools of better than 88 percent of the district's students scoring a "meets or exceeds" against a state average of 75 percent on state testing.

This year the state report card implemented a new "snapshot" that shows schools' performance on a five-point scale against other schools in the state. Another compares Sisters schools separately with schools of "like demographics." Sisters was compared to: Jefferson County; Seaside; Fern Ridge; Junction City; Cottage Grove/South Lane; Riverdale; Culver; Corvallis; Eugene 4J.

Sisters High School scored a 4 out of 5 overall, but was "about average" when rated against "like schools." Sisters Middle School earned a 4 of 5 compared to the state, and a "below average" in the like-school comparison. This rating is a bit curious since the middle school was equivalent to like schools in reading at 84 percent, about 6 percent lower in math, and almost 11 percent higher in science.

Sisters Elementary School also earned a 4 of 5 compared to the state, and an above average in the like-school comparison.

The ODE website presenting the analysis of the 2012-013 results notes that "the reading/literature and math scores ... (are) not comparable to previous years' results." This is a result of the change of the standards effective in the 2011-2012 school year. These standards will change again with the adoption of the Common Core, once again clouding the year-on-year comparisons (www.ode.state.or.us).

Bend-La Pine led the state's big districts, in terms of "above-average" schools and high numerical ratings. Of the district's 28 schools, 26 got a 4 or 5. That's 92 percent of the district's schools, compared to the state's 55 percent average.

Comparing Sisters to Bend-La Pine, Sisters averaged 75 percent "meets or exceeds" in math versus Bend-La Pine's 63 percent, or 12 percent higher. In reading, Sisters averaged 87 percent to Bend-La Pine's 72 percent, or 15 percent higher.

Redmond and Crook County scored considerably lower than Sisters or Bend-La Pine across the board.