Edwards named a model school for the second year, Ewing Young receives a top grade, NHS rated 2 out of 5

For the second year in a row, Edwards and Ewing Young elementary schools were the highlight among Newberg schools’ state-issued report cards, while Newberg High School once again received the lowest score in the district.

Edwards and Ewing Young received a 5 on the state’s 5-level rating system for the second consecutive year, with Edwards also earning the designation as Model School a second time by rating in the top 5 percent of high-poverty schools in the state.

Newberg High School was the district’s lowest-rated school for 2012-2013 after receiving a 3 in the first year of the state’s new report-card system, but was rated a 2 for 2013-2014. Every other school in the district was rated a 4, meaning they fell between the 44th and 90th percentile among all Oregon schools.

“Like student report cards, the state school report cards highlight school successes and challenges,” Superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza said. “All Newberg district schools surpass the average performance of Oregon schools in reading and mathematics. Most of our schools out-perform schools with similar demographics.”

The 5 rating that Edwards and Ewing Young received indicates that the schools finished in the top 10 percent in the state weighted-percentage scoring system, with Edwards posting a 95.6 and Ewing Young a 90.0.

The scores for elementary and middle schools are based on three factors — academic achievement, academic growth and subgroup growth — with graduation and subgroup graduation also factored into high-school ratings. Both Edwards and Ewing Young received a 5 rating in all three categories.

Among the district’s four other elementary schools, Antonia Crater received the highest score at 78.3, followed by Joan Austin (76.9), Mabel Rush (75.8) and Dundee (75.00).

All four schools were rated 4 in both academic achievement and academic growth, and a 3 in subgroup growth, with the lone exception being Crater’s 5 rating in academic achievement. Joan Austin and Mabel Rush were noted to be “above average” compared to elementary schools with similar demographics or “like schools,” while Crater and Dundee were rated about average.

Chehalem Valley Middle School’s score of 76.9 was slightly above the state average and was rated as about average in comparison to like schools, with Mountain View Middle School scoring 75.6 and rating above average versus like schools.

Newberg High School’s weighted percentage score actually increased from 67.3 last year to 68.2 for 2013-2014 and would have been rated a 3 for the second straight year, but was dropped a full rating level for not meeting the testing participation threshold in one particular subgroup, students with disabilities.

Schools are required to test at least 94.5 percent of students over two years or face that penalty, with NHS being docked because three out of 29 students in that group did not take the mathematics test in 2013-2014, dropping its combined rate to 94.4 percent. In contrast, 27 of 29 students in that group took the reading test in 2013-2014, which put NHS at 95.2.

As a whole, NHS had a 98.9 percent participation rate for the past two years, but first-year lead principal Mark Risen noted that test participation is something that the school can control and therefore should accomplish.

The high school received a 4 in the academic achievement category for the second straight year and even though the graduation rate dropped from 78.1 percent to 70.0., NHS still received a 4 in that category, so it did not affect its overall score.

A release from the district notes that the school’s rating also suffered due to limited achievement growth, with the school being rated 3 for academic growth and 2 for subgroup growth, with the latter being most negatively affected by level 1 ratings for students with disabilities in both math and reading.

In OAKS testing, NHS saw very little change from a year ago in reading and math, with 88.0 percent meeting expectations in reading and 74.2 in math, as both groups beet state and like-school averages.

Writing scores dropped slightly from 71.8 to 68.6, which put NHS above the state average (71.3) but equal to like schools (68.7). Science scores dropped dramatically, falling from 68.3 to 54.6, putting Newberg well below the state (63.1) and like-school (69.3) averages.

According to LeBlanc-Esparza, the district is specifically working to improve the graduation rate and close achievement gaps for students who are low-income, have disabilities and whose first language is not English, noting those challenges match national trends.

“While the state assessments give us some good data on our performance, we recognize it is only one data point we use to guide our work,” LeBlanc-Esparza said. “We rely on a body of evidence to help us make decisions to meet the needs of our students.”

Administrators at the high school are hoping the new leadership structure at the high school will address many of these problems by increasing efficiency in the use of resources and giving students more consistency and accountability.

“We are proud of the positive strides that have been made, but at the same time, we have very high standards,” Risen said. “We want to achieve a 5 rating and that will take continued hard work from us and all of our constituents.”

Written by: Seth Gordon