Sept. 25, 2007
Oregon has asked students to hit grade-level benchmarks on reading, writing and math tests since 1996.
For the 2006-2007 test year, under the No Child Left Behind law, Oregon had to check with a panel of teachers, professors, principals, business leaders and others to make sure that the tests were hard enough, but not too hard, in each grade.
Those groups decided Oregon's math and reading tests were too easy in elementary and early middle school, so they raised the passing score on state tests in grades three through seven.
On the flip side, they found the high school reading and math tests and the eighth grade math test were too hard, so they lowered the score a student must earn to pass those exams.
To allow for accurate comparisons in student achievement, state officials recalculated results from 2006 to show how students would have scored if the 2007 score cutoffs had been in place. The recalibrated 2006 scores are used in this news article and in all the charts that go with it.
Even with easier tests in place, high school students fared poorly on the state exams compared to elementary and middle school pupils.
High schools face a host of challenges, said Noor, the assistant superintendent for school improvement. Teachers are organized around subjects and departments, so it's harder to form teams around student learning, he said. A high school teacher typically teaches 150 students at a time, too many to build the close relationships with students and give all the extra help that teachers would like, others say. Oregon's math test, given near the end of 10th grade, covers concepts from algebra and statistics that some students aren't taught by 10th grade, Noor said.
"It's hard when the test only serves as a barometer for adults and is not tied to graduation or anything else that is meaningful for the kid at the moment," added Vicki Lukich , principal of Aloha High, where math scores were flat and reading scores dipped this year.
Still, she said, Aloha High teachers in every department work diligently to improve students' reading and writing. When students don't pass the tests in 10th grade --some because they are still learning English as a second language --teachers keep working with the students to gain more skills and pass on a retest. Aloha High holds drawings for $100 scholarships and a huge year-end party with platters of food for students who pass all the tests before they graduate.
"We want all of our students to graduate with a plan and graduate prepared to be successful," she says.