State releases performance rating for every Oregon public school
Published: Monday, August 02, 2010, 10:00 AM Updated: Monday, August 02, 2010, 10:02 AM
The state released federally mandated performance ratings for every Oregon public school this morning.
The ratings, required by the No Child Left Behind law, are based largely on how many students pass state reading and math tests. At first blush, this year's ratings suggest high schools made significant improvements during the past school year. That would be a welcome change after years of stagnant results in 10th-grade test scores.
A record number of high schools -- 45 percent -- met every performance target this year.
The surge in high school achievement was led by schools includingSouthridge High of Beaverton, which made dramatic gains in reading among its special education students, Hispanic students and those learning English as a second language, and Forest Grove High, where most students are poor and half are Latino and where students in every demographic group turned in strong reading and math performances this year.
Statewide, 78 schools face consequences such as having to offer students free tutoring or priority rights to transfer to another school because they have chronically fallen short of performance standards. That represents more Oregon schools under federal sanctions than ever before. Only schools that receive federal Title I funds to help disadvantaged students are hit with consequences for missing No Child Left Behind targets.
The largest of those are Salem's McKay High School and four Salem middle schools, most of which have fallen short of federal performance standards for five straight years.
In the Portland area, the biggest schools facing consequences for chronically failing to meet performance targets include Ron Russell Middle School in Southeast Portland, which must offer