Dueling school ratings vary widely.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

Just 37 Oregon schools fell short under the state's own criteria, according to annual school report cards made public by the state Department of Education today.

But close to 10 times that many missed targets set by the federal government under the No Child Left Behind Act, according to the final report, also released today, showing which schools made "adequate yearly progress," or AYP.

There's unanimous agreement that the dueling assessment methods send mixed and confusing signals, and ifstate schools Superintendent Susan Castillo gets her way, they will merge into one beginning in 2006-07.

"We're hoping to make improvements and get this right, and really combine and have a fair, accurate and easier to understand system that really has good information about what's going on," Castillo said Monday.

This is the sixth year the department has issued school report cards and the second for the AYP report. In Lane County and across the state, numerous high schools and middle schools stumbled under the federal criteria, which hold schools accountable for test performance, participation, attendance and dropout rates among the overall student body as well as students in every major racial and ethnic group, economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities and "limited English proficient" students.

Whether a school misses in a single area or a dozen, the label is the same: "did not meet." Schools receiving Title I money for disadvantaged students face escalating consequences, starting with having to offer students transportation to another school, for repeatedly missing AYP in the same area.

The school report cards, mandated by the 1999 state Legislature, carry no such serious consequences. Districts whose schools earn a "low" or "unacceptable" on the five-point rating system must simply complete improvement plans for those schools - a step most districts take anyway.

The report cards released today assess test scores, test participation rates, attendance and dropout rates from 2003-04 and 2002-03, and then gauge improvement on tests by assessing four years' of scores. Ratings were similar to last year's, with the same number of schools - 130 - earning "exceptional" ratings. Ten schools were rated "unacceptable," compared to four last year. This year 360 schools were rated strong, 546 satisfactory and 27 low, compared to 337, 549 and 35 last year, respectively.

Two local schools earned "unacceptable" ratings: South Lane Academy in Cottage Grove and Gateways Learning Center in Springfield, both of which cater to students who have struggled, failed or dropped out at other schools. Educators at those schools have long complained that it's unfair to hold second-chance, alternative schools to the same rating standards.

More worrisome for South Lane Superintendent Krista Parent was Cottage Grove High School's first "low" rating, which comes after several years of below-average 10th-grade scores in reading and math. Officials knew it was coming, she said, although it missed "satisfactory" only by a hair.

The school has taken aggressive steps that began last year to change the school culture and boost achievement. Already, she said, they're seeing results, which makes the blow easier to absorb.

"You know, I think initially for myself, you go, God, you're working so hard doing all these things, and initially it's kind of a punch in the gut," she said. "But you kind of get over it and you say, 'We're really doing the most we can do every day to make a difference for every kid in this district.' "

Last year, the school adopted a new, more demanding and integrated math curriculum, and saw an immediate uptick on last year's state math test. With the help of grants, the school is also focusing on literacy, trying to ensure intervention and assistance for every student who is a struggling reader.

For the high-achievers, the school added Advanced Placement calculus, and plans to offer AP statistics next year.

New this year is a 30-member School Culture of Achievement Team, made up of staff, parents and students, which is focusing on improving attendance, devising intervention strategies for struggling students, encouraging more parent involvement and challenging the high-achievers.

"The culture there this year, I'm not kidding you, from the teachers and the principal on down to the students there, you can really see it's really turning around," Parent said.

Nick Garman, a team member who has taught social studies at Cottage Grove High for 14 years, said people are excited about the changes afoot. He said he's no fan of the state report card system, believing it relies too heavily on limited indicators and does little more than serve as "fodder" for the media and critics of public education.

"We're probably going to take some heat," said Garman, who attended Cottage Grove schools himself. "There are people who'll say, see, they don't teach our kids anything, but I think the staff is pretty confident in what we're doing, and I think the kids feel pretty good about the school."

In the Eugene, Springfield and Bethel districts, numerous elementary schools shone. Earning "exceptional" ratings were Eugene's Adams, Awbrey Park, Eastside, Edgewood, Edison, Evergreen, Fox Hollow, Hillside, Meadowlark, Parker and Washington (now closed); Springfield's Camp Creek, Mohawk, Walterville and Yolanda; and Bethel's Clear Lake, Irving, Danebo and Fairfield.

Fox Hollow, an alternative school that offers French immersion, is one of three elementary schools in the state deemed "exceptional" since the report card's inception.

"We're pleased that the state recognizes the academic work that we do with students," Principal Martha Moultry said. "But we realize that test results is by no means the total of educating the child. And we realize our colleagues do an equal job working with their students."

Eugene's Roosevelt Middle School also got an "exceptional," as did South Eugene High School, one of eight schools in the state that earned the state's top rating but did not make AYP under the federal law.

Castillo is working now with her staff and an advisory group of school administrators, and education and business leaders on a proposal to blend the two rating systems. The plan would require waivers from the U.S. Department of Education to some of the most controversial pieces of the AYP system, including the all-or-nothing designations and the series of consequences for Title I schools, which Castillo views as punitive and ineffective.

She hopes federal officials will see the benefits of the changes, but if they say no, she said, "We could still devise what we want, and say, `This is the federal reporting system, it's not as accurate or fair as the one we've created in Oregon.' '

ON THE WEB

Detailed report cards for every school that was rated will be posted today at www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx.

CAPTION(S):

Students were gone Monday and there were only empty chairs as Cottage Grove High School social studies teacher Nick Garman graded papers. Garman, is a member of a committee at the high school charged with finding ways to "raise the bar" of academic expectations.