Report card: Chenowith boosts scores

Testing in English found 40.3 percent of students met or exceeded standards, up from 37.7 percent the year before, and just 28.1 percent the year before that. Statewide, 49.6 percent met standards, and in schools similar to Chenowith in size and demographics, just 32.7 percent met standards.

In math, 36.5 percent of students met standards, up from 30.9 percent the year before and just 14.9 percent the year before that. State average is 43.6 percent and for like schools, it was 26.1 percent.

In science, 76.5 percent met standards, down from 81.3 percent the year before, but above the 65.8 percent the year before that. Statewide, 66 percent met state standards, and just 47.6 percent of like schools did.

“Particularly our elementary schools are doing really well, which tells me we’re doing the right thing in terms of our initiatives and focus,” said Candy Armstrong, North Wasco County School District 21 superintendent.

The high school saw its scores drop in all three test areas of English, math and science. But its graduation rate is still on the upswing, with a 2016-17 graduation rate of 83.2 percent, which is well above the state rate of 74.8 percent. The Dalles High School Principal Nick Nelson was named Oregon’s Principal of the Year on the strength of the improvements made at the school, particularly to the graduation rate.

At Mosier Community School, the highest performing school in the district, 68.9 percent of students met state standards in English, well above the 52.3 percent state average and 54.7 like-school average.

In math, 45.9 percent met standards, up from the 42.8 percent state average but just below the 46.8 percent like-school standard.

In science, Mosier students had 87 percent meeting science standards, well above the 64.5 percent statewide and 69.3 percent at like schools.

At the high school, 62.3 percent of students met standards in English, down from 74.5 percent the year before. That is well below the state average of 71.1 and the like-school average of 72.2.

In math, 28.5 percent met state standards, down from 32.6 percent the year before. The state average is 35.3 percent and the like-school average is 32 percent.

In science, 62.9 percent met standards, down from 68.1 percent the year before. That is still above the state average of 57.8 percent and the like-school average of 54.9 percent.

Though the state school report card is not giving overall ratings to districts again this year, Armstrong said she is pleased overall.

“Certainly, we want to improve,” she said.

Overall ratings were not given last year either, and won’t until next year’s report card, because of implementation of a new federal school law in the current school year.

Armstrong said Chenowith Elementary is no longer a priority status school, meaning it needed extra help to improve student scores, and Col. Wright Elementary is no longer on focus status.

Both of those statuses ended at the end of the last school year, she said.

“We’re paying close attention to the initiatives we’ve put in place and the strategies we’ve put in place to see increasing numbers of our English Language Learners doing better over time,” Armstrong said.

“We’re getting good results in,” she said. “Not where we want to be at all. We’ll have more emphasis on that this year.”

The main thing with initiatives is ensuring teachers are supported so they are teaching those strategies with fidelity, Armstrong said. That takes a lot of work, especially when you have teacher turnover and have to renew training.

“It takes constant attention,” she said.

Armstrong said the district is doing well given it implemented a new math curriculum last year.

The first year of a new curriculum can sometimes cause a dip in scores.

At Colonel Wright, 49.4 percent of students met standards, up from 46.6 the year before. It barely trailed the state average of 49.6 percent and was above the like-school average of 40.6 percent.

In math, scores dropped a bit, with 31.7 percent meeting state standards, down from 35.6 the year before. Statewide, 43.6 percent meet state standards, but just 31.2 percent of like schools do.

In science, 65.5 percent met standards, up from 60 percent the year before. The state average is 66 and the like-school average is 57.1.

Dry Hollow Principal Theresa Peters said she felt the unprecedented amount of missed and late days from snow hampered learning.

The school saw a drop in English scores meeting or exceeding state standards, with 48.1 percent at that level in 2016-17 and 53.7 percent the year before. That compares to 49.6 percent statewide, and 45.5 for like schools.

In math, 44.8 percent met standards, compared to 43.2 a year before. That is above the state standard of 43.6 percent and well above the like-school average of 38.8 percent.

Peters said, “It’s always challenging because it’s hard to celebrate 44.8 percent, but when you look at the rigor of instruction, what we are expecting our students to do, we’re doing all right.”

In science, 70.3 percent met standards compared to 84 percent the year before. But it is still above the 66 percent state average and 64.8 percent like-school average.

The middle school improved English scores, with 39.1 percent meeting standards, up from 36.7 percent the year before. The state average is 55.2 percent and like-school average is 49 percent.

In math, 25.3 percent met standards, down from 28.1 percent the year before. The state average is 41.9 percent and like-school average is 34.6 percent.

In science, 65.4 percent met standards, a drop from 69.8 percent the year before. The state average is lower, at 62.8 percent, and the like-school average is even lower, at 57.4 percent.

The high school is focusing on ensuring freshmen stay on track all school year, and that effort will go down to the eighth-grade next year, Armstrong said.

The high school has developed a class to help students focus on study skills and the kinds of attitudes they need to be successful academically, she said.

Strategies are also being implemented across the high school to teach students ways of note taking and ways of studying. It is a long-established strategy called Cornell Notes, she said.

District wide, attendance rates were 76 percent for grades kindergarten through third grade, 82.9 percent for grades 4-5, 72.1 percent for grades 6-8, and 69.6 percent for grades 9-12.

Immunization rates were: 88 percent for Mosier; 95 percent for the middle school; 98 percent for Chenowith; 95 percent for Col. Wright; 94 percent for Dry Hollow; and 96 percent for the high school.