State report cards: Four ‘model schools’ in C.O.

This year, 28 high-poverty schools in 20 Oregon districts — four in Central Oregon — made strong gains or sustained high levels of performance to earn Model School designations, the Oregon Department of Education said Thursday as it released “school report cards.”

Deputy Superintendent Rob Saxton released the report cards for all of Oregon’s K-12 public schools and districts. The report card’s rating system enables the state to identify the top performing schools, including the top 5 percent of high-poverty schools, which are designated as Model Schools.

They include two in Bend: Juniper Elementary and Westside Village Magnet School at Kingston Elementary, along with Culver Middle School and Sisters Elementary.

“These Model Schools show us that all of Oregon’s schools can experience incredible success,” Saxton said. “All students can learn and achieve at high levels, despite high poverty, high student mobility, and a range of other challenges. We can learn from these schools as we continue to improve our P-20 system to increase student outcomes across the state.”

A list of Model Schools is produced every year. This year’s Model Schools list includes several schools that have significantly boosted student outcomes since the 2011-12 school year. The three schools that showed the most growth were:

Sunny Wolf Charter School in the Three Rivers School District, which increased its rating from a level 2 to a level 5 (on a five point rating system) over the past three years.
Portland’s Self Enhancement Inc., which boosted its rating from a 3 to a 5 in that time frame.
Sherman County’s Sherman Elementary, which also increased from a 3 to a 5 rating.

Sunny Wolf Charter is a rural school with high rates of student poverty and student mobility. Many of the students come from challenging situations that would typically place them at risk of low academic outcomes. However, last year, 92% met the reading standard and 77% met the math standard, well above the state average in both areas. Sunny Wolf is one of three schools in the rural Three Rivers/Josephine County School District to receive Model School status, the largest number of Model Schools for any district in the state.

“We’ve worked very hard to make this the best possible school for children and that starts with a shared vision,” said Sunny Wolf Director Penelope Digennaro. “Seeing it from the beginning to where it is now is just thrilling.”

Turning Around Student Achievement
In 2012, the state identified the lowest performing 15% of high-poverty schools as Focus and Priority Schools. As part of a four-year turn-around effort, these schools receive targeted supports and interventions such as leadership coaching, educator professional development, and extended reading time to increase student achievement and close persistent achievement gaps. Now, nearly 60% of the schools have boosted achievement so they are no longer in the bottom 15%. However, all Focus and Priory schools will continue to receive supports for the duration of the four-year program to ensure a full and sustained transformation.

“Strategic Investment funds provided our Focus and Priority Schools with much needed supports to close the gaps between students and improve student achievement,” said Chief Education Officer Nancy Golden. “Oregon invested $4 million in individualized reading support for students in these schools to make sure all students have the reading skills to succeed in school and beyond. This type of wise, targeted investment makes a powerful difference for our students.”

Sustaining Excellence
Five of the 28 schools on this year’s Model Schools list sustained high ratings from year to year for all three years. These five schools are Ashland’s John Muir Elementary, McMinnville’s Sue Buel Elementary, Tigard-Tualatin’s Durham Elementary, Tigard-Tualatin’s Tualatin Elementary, and David Douglas’ Alice Ott Middle School. All of these schools have been intentional about their programs, curriculum, high-quality instruction, community engagement, and school culture.

Alice Ott Middle School, one of only five middle schools on this year’s list, attributes its sustained success to strong, consistent reading and math programs, meaningful engagement with students and families, and a focus on student attendance. All sixth graders at this school – which is 69% students in poverty, 49% students of color, and 42% English language learners – receive 80 minutes of reading instruction daily.

Those struggling in math receive 80 minutes of math instruction daily. Teachers positively engage with students’ families on a regular basis by sending home at least 10 positive postcards or making at least 10 positive phone calls each month, commending families for students’ successes. Staff go to students’ homes if they are routinely missing school to stress the importance of regular attendance.

While the school has ranked at the top of the pack for several years, it maintains a strong, school-wide focus on school improvement with all staff members serving on school improvement teams.

“At Alice Ott, we continually ask ourselves, ‘What would we want for our own children?” said Alice Ott Principal James Johnston. “Positive relationships, staff teamwork, and a focus on each and every individual student make a difference. Our goal is to challenge students and help them reach their dreams.”

Report Card Release
Oregon’s School and District Report Cards were redesigned a year ago as part of Oregon’s federal flexibility waiver to better tell the state’s educational story. Since student learning is about more than meeting standard on state tests, the new system has a greater focus on student learning and growth over time and uses multiple measures to rate schools. In addition, the new report card provides parents and community members with important information on the curriculum and learning environment at the school, student attendance rates, and includes a letter from the principal and superintendent.

For a full list of this year’s Model Schools, click here.

To access your school and district report cards, click here.