Ore. school report cards: More excel, fall short

Deputy Superintendent Rob Saxton released the report card ratings Thursday for Oregon’s K-12 public schools and districts. But the ‘Adequate Yearly Progress” label went away amid plans for a major redesign of the information under the state’s federal waiver from “No Child Left Behind” rules.

The annual report cards provide parents and community members with an overview of school performance in the areas of student achievement, attendance/graduation, participation, and student growth, in addition to key school statistics, demographics, and an overall rating.

This will be the final year Oregon releases the current version of the school report cards. As part of the state’s federal flexibility waiver, the school report cards will be redesigned to provide better information to parents and communities on how our students, schools, and districts are doing.

“Part of having strong, vibrant, and successful schools is having engaged and informed families and communities,” said Saxton. “I am incredibly excited by the work under way to redesign the Oregon Report Cards to ensure they provide the information our parents and communities need about student and school performance.

“Our state is embracing a new model for education – one that is better coordinated, more student-centered, and more focused on key outcomes. We need to have a report card that is aligned to, and supports, that vision for education, and that is what this redesign process is all about.”

As part of Oregon’s federal flexibility waiver, the state proposed designing a new State Report Card. Since the timing of the waiver approval did not allow for a redesign to occur before this year’s report card release, this year’s reports will look much as they have in the past.

The main change is the removal of overall Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) designations, since these are no longer required under Oregon’s waiver.

In addition, schools which were identified as Priority, Focus, or Model schools this summer under Oregon’s new accountability system received a note of this new designation on their Report Card. Priority, Focus, and Model schools are high-poverty schools identified as needing additional supports and interventions (Priority and Focus) or as examples of student success (Model).

A school’s overall designation on the report card is determined by a rating system which looks at student achievement on state reading and math tests, growth in student achievement, participation on reading and math tests, and graduation or attendance rates. How well a school does in these areas determines whether they are identified as Outstanding, Satisfactory, or In Need of Improvement.

Oregon’s 2011-2012 School Report Card Ratings

–31% of schools (364 out of 1155) were rated Outstanding (last year 28%)
–59% of schools (678 out of 1155) were rated Satisfactory (last year 64%)
–10% of schools (113 out of 1155) were rated In Need of Improvement (last year 8%)
–98 schools were not rated due to their small size or being open for less than two years.

School and district report cards are available on the Department’s website at: http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx

As in previous years, these Report Cards provide an overview of school data including information on student performance on state tests, student growth, attendance, graduation rates, dropout rates, class size, enrollment, percent English Language Learner, SAT scores, expulsions due to weapons, and information on staffing and teacher education/experience, in addition to a school’s overall report card rating.

District Report Cards provide an overview of how all of the schools in a particular district performed and how the district compares to the state overall.

Over the coming months, stakeholders from around the state will provide feedback on the redesign of these report cards. This fall and winter, a state-wide online survey will solicit feedback on the changes people would like to see made to these reports, and focus groups made up of parents, educators, administrators, and students will make recommendations on the redesign process.

Guiding this work is a Report Card Redesign Steering Committee which will meet regularly over the coming months and will present a final recommendation to the Oregon Department of Education in late February. A website with additional information on the redesign process will be online later this fall.

“I want to encourage parents, community members, business partners, students, and educators alike to participate in this redesign process,” said Deputy Superintendent Saxton. “We want and need all of your ideas, feedback, and suggestions in order to build the world-class report card we envision for our state. These report cards are designed for you, and you should have the opportunity to help design them. Thank you in advance for participating in this important work.”

In addition to the School and District Report Cards, ODE also released an updated Priority, Focus, and Model schools list Thursday.

In the final data validation which occurs in advance of the report card release, a data irregularity was identified. As a result, there have been some changes to the final Priority, Focus, and Model schools list.

Three new Model schools have been identified. Nine Focus schools have been removed from the list. One school had its designation change from Priority to Focus, and 8 new schools have been identified as Focus schools. Click here for the final updated list.

ODE is working with the newly identified schools to implement the focused support available to Priority and Focus schools already engaged in the process. The Focus schools removed from the list will no longer have the designation; however, they all have the opportunity to retain their coaches and undergo the school appraisal process.

Among the final list of priority schools — Marshall High in Bend-La Pine, Jefferson County Middle School, Madras High School and Warm Springs Elementary School.

Focus schools include La Pine and Rosland elementary schools in La Pine and Buff Intermediate School in Jefferspm County.

Model schools include Westside Village Magnet School at Bend’s Kingston Elementary School, and Sisters Elementary School.

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News release:

Redmond Schools Make Good Marks on State School Report Card

Two Redmond schools receive “Outstanding” ratings

REDMOND, Oregon – The Redmond School District received positive news this week when the Oregon Department of Education issued its Annual Oregon School Report Cards. All of the RSD schools earned Outstanding or Satisfactory ratings on the report that measures a number of factors including an overview of school performance in the areas of student achievement, attendance/graduation, participation, and student growth, in addition to key school statistics, demographics, and an overall rating.

Terrebonne Community School and the Redmond Proficiency Academy were rated as Outstanding, the highest rating available on the current report card. “In addition, we are also pleased about the positive achievement trends in both reading and math at our middle schools,” said Linda Seeberg, Executive Director of Academic Programs.

Oregon’s school report card is currently under revision to provide improved information to parents and communities on how students, schools and districts are doing. As part of the state’s federal flexibility waiver, a new school rating system has been developed which places a greater emphasis on student growth from year to year. Included in this is a focus on growth and graduation rates for subgroups (including Students with Disabilities, Limited English Proficient, Economically Disadvantaged and Race/Ethnicity groups). The new report card will reflect elements of this new rating system.

“We look forward to the revised school report card because the new rating system shows a more detailed and complete picture of achievement in schools,” said Linda Seeberg. In this new system for example, three of Redmond’s schools, Vern Patrick Elementary, Obsidian Middle School and Terrebonne Community School received the highest possible rating for growth in student achievement. This means that students at these schools are making strong gains. It also shows that a few schools need to focus efforts specifically on subgroup growth. “This kind of differentiated reporting enables schools and districts to focus in more effectively on specific improvement targets,” Seeberg said.

RSD Superintendent Mike McIntosh said, “Redmond School District staff, in partnership with students, parents and community members continue to build strong schools that place high value on student performance. In our goal to provide a rigorous and relevant education to all students, we must continue to look at growth for all students as a measure of our effectiveness.”

Last year. Redmond School District developed its own Performance Meter defining key indicators to continually measure and guide improvement efforts. The indicators are centered on the District goals for graduation, academic achievement, attendance, and teacher and principal effectiveness.

Redmond School District is committed to a focus on performance-based measures to evaluate and improve student achievement. The targets in the RSD Performance Meter will act as a guidepost to help ensure the work continues toward the District’s promise of all students graduating from Redmond School District college prepared and career ready.

For more information see Oregon Report Card Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.ode.state.or.us/apps/faqs/index.aspx?=41

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Bend-La Pine Schools Receive High Marks on Oregon School Report Cards

16 schools earn the states highest rating, “Outstanding”

Sixteen Bend-La Pine Schools earned the state’s highest mark, Outstanding, on today’s release of the 2010-11 Oregon Department of Education State School Report Card.

In all, nearly 60 percent of all Bend-La Pine schools achieved the states highest mark. Comparatively, just 31 percent of Oregon schools earned the Outstanding rating statewide.

Oregon schools were rated on a three-tier scale: Outstanding, Satisfactory, and In Need of Improvement.

The 16 Bend-La Pine Schools rated Outstanding are: Amity Creek at Thompson School, Bear Creek Elementary, Buckingham Elementary, Elk Meadow Elementary, High Lakes Elementary, Highland at Kenwood School, Ponderosa Elementary, RE Jewell Elementary, Three Rivers School, Westside Village at Kingston School, William E. Miller Elementary, Cascade Middle, Sky View Middle, Bend Senior High, Mountain View High and Summit High schools.

Superintendent Ron Wilkinson commends the staff and students of Bend-La Pine Schools for their continued focus on student success.

“Positive results like these reinforce that great things are happening here,” he said. “We are teaching all students well, we are preparing students for their futures, and there is clear evidence of excellence throughout our entire school system.”

Wilkinson said that the State School Report Cards provide an overview of school data including information on student performance on state tests, student growth, attendance, graduation rates, dropout rates, class size, enrollment, percent English Language Learner, SAT scores, and information on staffing and teacher education/experience, in addition to a school’s overall report card rating. The report cards are one of the many tools that Bend-La Pine Schools uses to measure student and school achievement.