Local schools below state average on test scores
By Clinton Vining
Publisher, The Sun
On a bright note, seventh-grade students of the West Valley write better than their peers across the state.
Oregon state test scores were released Monday morning and Sheridan and Willamina students did not fare so well. With a few exceptions, local students fell below the state average of meeting or exceeding standards.
Statewide, 50 percent of seventh graders exceeded standards in writing. In Sheridan, with 55 percent exceeding writing standards, that was the only category the district did better than the state average. In Willamina, 70 percent surpassed the standards.
Willamina third-graders also exceeded standards and tied the state average of 79 percent.
The Willamina School District as a whole appeared to test better than Sheridan, with more high scores, but also had the West Valley’s lowest results, too. The WSD had 70 or more percent of its students pass in six of the 20 testing sections. The highest percentage to exceed standards was 79 percent. Sheridan’s highest score was 77 in seventh-grade math. The SSD only scored 70 percent or better three times.
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Only 23 percent of Willamina Elementary fourth graders met writing standards. In Sheridan, only 36 percent of fourth graders passed the writing standards. For both districts, these were the lowest marks. Interestingly, both districts exceeded the state average in writing by the seventh-grade—the next—writing test.
From 2009 to 2010, Willamina improved 12 of its 20 test scores.
“Generally speaking, our scores were up,” said Willamina Superintendent Mark Jeffery.
“We still have work to do,” he added.
Sheridan Superintendent A.J. Grauer said that her district is appealing the Sheridan results. Sheridan High School met state standards, as did the public charter Sheridan Japanese School, but the Opportunity House and Faulconer-Chapman School K-8 did not. FCS missed the mark by such a small margin that Grauer explained it is necessary to appeal the results, which the district has figured differently than the state. It comes down to one special education student's test scores, she said.
Because the Opportunity House, an alternative high school program, doesn't meet standards, the district as a whole will likely fail, despite any appeal attempts, Grauer said. But they've made improvement, too, she noted.
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