Oregon Department of Education February 2016

Education Update

Message from Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Salam Noor

Salam’s Blog

Education Update

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Last month, we released graduation numbers for the class of 2015 which showed a two percent increase in our state’s four-year graduation rate. While we clearly have a ways to go to ensure that each and every student graduates with a plan and on a path for future success, this increase means we are headed in the right direction and is truly something to celebrate. I want to commend all of you – our educators, administrators, students, parents, and community partners – for your dedication, leadership, and intentional focus on improving outcomes for kids in our state. Thanks to what you do every day, more students are graduating on time and with the skills needed to succeed in college and the workplace.

In addition to the gains we made as a state, many of your schools and districts posted even more dramatic increases and made progress in reducing the graduation gaps that too often exist for our students of color, students navigating poverty, students with disabilities, or those learning English. We took a deeper look at what you are doing to improve rates, close gaps, and better support improved student outcomes. As part of the graduation brief we released with this year’s numbers, we interviewed principals from a handful of schools across the state about what they believe contributed to their success. And while there are many strategies and localized factors that contribute to improved rates, some common themes emerged.

The schools we spoke with described a shared vision among school leaders and staff that all students can succeed, close connections between staff and students that create a positive school climate, a focus on college and career goals that emphasizes high school completion as a path to later success, partnerships with higher education and community organizations, and individualized attention and early intervention for students falling behind.

I am truly inspired by what schools across the state are doing to tackle this important issue. Schools like Portland’s Jefferson High whose graduation rate has increased from 50% in 2009-10 to 80% in 2014-15 or Newport High where Hispanic and English Learner students now graduate at higher rates than their White peers, eliminating those graduation gaps. We all know the challenges faced by students in poverty, but Neah-Kah-Nie High School helped students beat the odds and posted a 100% graduation rate for their low-income students last year, up from 58% in 2008-09. You can read more about these and the other schools we highlighted, in our graduation issue brief.

While I am very pleased with the state’s overall increase in graduation rates, we have much we can learn from schools like Jefferson, Newport, and Neah-Kah-Nie that are making significant gains in boosting graduation rates for historically underserved students. As we work to improve outcomes for all of our students, we must keep our focus on reducing opportunity, achievement, and graduation gaps across our state. We must ensure that the promise of a bright future is afforded to all of our students regardless of zip code, race, income, language, or disability status.

As part of our state’s intentional focus on improving graduation rates, I have established a Graduation Advisory Committee made up of key external partners to advise on the development of the state’s graduation plan. This advisory group met in January to review Oregon and national graduation data, discuss current barriers to improving the graduation rate, explore promising practices, and share recommendations and strategies for moving the work forward. This group will continue to work closely with ODE leadership on developing a graduation plan that builds on this year’s growth and improves outcomes for all students across the state.

We have a lot of work ahead, but this year’s results – and the good work going on in schools all across our state – gives me great optimism and hope for what we can accomplish together in the years to come.

Education Update

Oregon Department of Education February 2016

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Story TimeStories Highlighting Educational Success, Best Practice, and Innovation Around the State

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Oregon’s Graduation Rate: Examples of Success from the FieldAlong with the graduation data that was released last month, the Oregon Department of Education distributed a Research Brief highlighting promising practices from schools across the state that are making significant gains in boosting graduation rates and closing gaps for historically underserved student groups. ODE highlighted the following Oregon high schools for their recent gains: Jefferson High School in Portland, Newport High School, North Medford High School, David Douglas High School in east Portland, Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach, Rainier Jr/Sr High School, Gervais High School, and the Woodburn School District. Each school has a unique story to tell about how it has created its success, but some common threads emerged:

• Creating a college-going culture school-wide • A shared commitment to success for every student • Building strong relationships between students and staff • Individualized attention and early interventions for students falling behind • Summer and after-school programs to provide extra learning time for students

Below are a few excerpts from the brief. See the full Research Brief for more graduation success stories.

North Medford High School North Medford raised the graduation rate for its Limited English Proficient students by 8 percentage points from 2013-14 and by 20 percentage points since 2008-09. Perhaps more importantly, a growing share of English Learners (EL) are becoming proficient in English prior to entering high school and are graduating at even higher rates: 97% in 2014-15. North Medford works closely with its primary feeder school to better prepare students for the transition to high school. North Medford connects with Hispanic students and promotes a college-going culture in multiple ways: Heritage Spanish classes where Spanish-speaking students can earn college credit, parent outreach for the families of EL students, parent nights where parents play an integral role in planning the meetings, and field trips to nearby community colleges and universities to introduce students to college culture.

David Douglas High School Six years ago, staff at David Douglas set an ambitious goal: increase graduation rates 2% a year. By 2025, staff are striving for a 100% graduation rate. The total student graduation rate has increased from 61% in 2008-09 to 75% in 2014-15, a 14 percentage point gain that puts the school well on its way to achieving its goal. Nearly all student groups made progress during this period, including African American students who increased their rate from 57% to 72% and Hispanic students who increased their rate from 55% to 73%.Principal John Bier attributes the increase in graduation rates to a multi-faceted approach rooted in two central values: • Staff who go above and beyond in developing

relationships with students. • High academic and behavioral standards for all

students.

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North Medford HS LEP Student Graduation Rates

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David Douglas High School Graduation Rates

Oregon Department of Education February 2016

Education Update

Steps to SuccessArticles and Resources Relating to the Common Core, the Oregon Diploma, the Essential Skills, and More...

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ORSkillsIn the spring of 2015, the Oregon Department of Education partnered with Willamette Education Service District and Cascade Technology Alliance to develop an online system, known as ORSkills, that includes a bank of assessment prompts and an online system for scoring and managing student work and score records.

In the assessment bank there are more than 165 Work Sample prompts in math, reading, and writing, many of which are available in multiple languages. Notably within the bank there are prompts in 11 different languages. ORSkills also supports collaboration on scoring within and across districts and allows for portability of student work sample scores to ease the burden of student transfers. The scoring tool can be used for many purposes, including creating common expectations for what high quality student work looks like and for increasing the quality of scores. Many districts have expressed their appreciation for this resource. Steve Spencer--principal at Dallas High School--said, “The ORSkills resource has been amazing! It has allowed our teachers to more efficiently support students in their efforts to meet the Essential Skills for graduation. It’s an incredible resource to support inter-rater reliability amongst my staff and across the state.” The funding to support Oregon Department of Education’s contribution to this online system was provided through the 2013-2015 biennium strategic initiatives as a part of a larger effort to build local assessment capacity across the state. Additional information about ORSkills is included in this FAQ. If you would like to learn more about ORSkills, please contact Michelle Slate at Willamette Education Service District or Cristen McLean at the Oregon Department of Education.

January 11 through January 25, 2016 the following preliminary Oregon Kindergarten Assessment reports were made available to districts to review in the Achievement Data Insight tool: Detail Report- Student level information and Summary Report- District & School level information. Additionally, the 2015-2016 Statewide Kindergarten Assessment Results have been made available to the public through the Kindergarten Resource Webpage. ODE has provided an Interpretive Guidance Overview which accompanied the data release. This document outlines the goals of the Kindergarten Assessment and provides benchmark level expectations with descriptors in the areas of self-regulation and interpersonal skills. For additional information or questions related to the Kindergarten Assessment, please contact Amber Helvie at 503-947-5928.

Kindergarten Assessment Release Career and Technical Education Month

During the month of February, ODE’s Career and Technical Education team will showcase career and technical education in Oregon schools. The goal is to feature the opportunities students have to explore a variety of career areas that will equip them with the academic knowledge and technical skills vital for entry into the evolving workforce of the 21st century. Find more about Oregon CTE Month at: http://oregoncte.com/category/cte-month/.

Education Update

Oregon Department of Education February 2016

Teacher TalkArticles and Resources Relating to Curriculum, Instruction, Special Programs, and More…

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Indistar TrainingsThe Oregon Department of Education is hosting statewide regional trainings to provide information and strategies for improving the planning process in your district. No matter what stage of the Continuous Improvement Planning (CIP) or school level plan process you are in, discover how the Indistar® tool and resources can be used to manage and improve your CIP. District CIP team training will be held at sites from 9 AM - 12:00 PM. School Team trainings will be held from 1 - 4:00 PM. School teams will learn about creating school plans and monitoring progress within Indistar®. Please go to Events Registration for more information and to register for a training near you today! Please contact Stacie Ankrum for registration questions or Carla Wade for questions about Indistar®.

School Breakfast Challenge This past November, the Oregon Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) joined with Partners for Hunger-Free Oregon and the Oregon Dairy Council to sponsor the School Breakfast Challenge. This year’s school winners increased breakfast participation by the greatest percent compared to last year’s average. First place was Adrian Elementary School in Adrian School District with a 181% increase, and second place was Al Kennedy Alternative High School in South Lane School District with a 158% increase! The Legislature enacted House Bill 2846-A that allows teachers to claim 15 minutes of breakfast in the classroom as instructional time, eliminating the barrier to feeding students. Breakfast in the Classroom seemed to have a tremendous impact for the winning schools. CNP encourages all districts to consider the benefits of implementing Breakfast in the Classroom in their sites. More information can be found in ODE’s Breakfast in the Classroom Manual or by contacting Jessica Visinsky at 503-947-5897.

Alternative Education Summit

The Oregon Department of Education, in collaboration with the Oregon Education Investment Board and Willamette Education Service District, are sponsoring an Oregon Alternative Education Summit on February 25, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 12 PM at the Willamette ESD. The goal of the Summit is to explore some of the exciting model best practices that are occurring throughout the state. This will be an opportunity to share ideas and ask questions related to alternate education.

Our objective is to engage participants in discussion on how we can collaborate collect successful strategies. These will be gathered and reported in places such as the Oregon Education Network that produce access to innovative ideas and resources. Please email Donna Newbeck to register, or contact Bob Salazar with any questions regarding the Summit.

Congratulations to the K-12 Biliteracy Pathways Grant recipients! This grant was established to help Oregon identify model English Learner (EL) instructional practices and programs for statewide replication. The review committee consisted of three Department staff members and seven external reviewers with EL expertise. They evaluated fourteen very competitive proposals and recommended funding four districts at the maximum grant award level (Canby, Corvallis, Hillsboro, and North Clackamas), and two districts and one charter school with a partial grant award (Woodburn, Portland, and Four Rivers Community School). ODE is excited to learn from all seven grant sites and we are also pleased to announce that the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) has been selected as the grant consultant. Please contact Martha Martinez with any grant questions.

K-12 Biliteracy Pathways Grant

Oregon Department of Education February 2016

Education Update

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Legal CornerArticles and Resources on Rules, Statutes, Policy, Numbered Memos, and More…

State Board of Education January 2016 Actions• Adoption: District Improvement Partnerships• Adoption: STEM Innovation Grants • Adoption: CTE Summer Youth Programs• Adoption: Updating Rules to Reflect Dissolution of OEIB• Adoption: Adoption Period for Instructional Materials • Adoption: English Language Proficiency Instructional Materials 2015-2021• Adoption: ADMw for Charter Schools• Adoption: Human Sexuality Education• Adoption: of Prescription & Nonprescription Medication to Students• Adoption: Imbler Charter School Waiver Request• Adoption: Sauvie Island Charter School Waiver Request• Adoption: Coburg Charter School Waiver Request• Adoption: Oregon Alternate Assessment Aligned to CCSS• Adoption: Supplemental Plans: Baker and Bend-LaPine School Districts • Adoption: Travel for Anthony Veliz & Jessica Nguyen-Ventura for the National School Board Association

Annual Conference• Adoption: Native American Mascot / OAR 581-021-0047 with amended resolution• Adoption: Preliminary Report: HB 2681 Workgroup • Adoption: Essential Skills for English Language Learners and OAR 581-22-0617Click here to view the OAR’s associated with the January actions above.

OSCIM Program

In January 2016, the Oregon Department of Education provided bond funding commitments of $62,040,543 to 16 school districts for the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program (OSCIM, pronounced “awesome”). If all districts are successful in passing their bonds, that $62.0 million in State funding will leverage an additional $365.1 million of local bond to invest in schools across the state.The 2016 May Election Commitments are: Adrian; Athena-Weston; Centennial; Central Linn; Corbett; Echo; Falls City; Jefferson; Mapleton; Milton-Freewater; Molalla River; Nyssa; Ontario; Siuslaw; South Umpqua; and Yamhill Carlton. In addition to the OSCIM program, there are one-time grants for facilities assessments ($20,000 per district), long-range facility plans ($25,000 per district), and seismic assessments and other specialized assessments ($25,000 per district). The Office of School Facilities plans to have these grants available to districts in the Summer of 2016. For additional information on the program, please click here or contact Michael Elliott.

SB 612 Implementation Senate Bill 612 requires the Department of Education to designate a Dyslexia Specialist to provide school districts with support to screen all students in kindergarten and first grade for risk factors of dyslexia and to communicate related training opportunities. Carrie Thomas Beck was hired as the Dyslexia Specialist in January and will work collaboratively with the Oregon Dyslexia Advisory Council to provide support and resources to school districts. The notice for recruitment for the Oregon Dyslexia Advisory Council membership can be found on the ODE website and will remain open through February 29, 2016. The group will convene in March of 2016 and will meet regularly throughout the planning phases to prepare districts to implement the screening and training requirements of SB 612. If you have any questions, please contact Carrie Thomas Beck at (503) 947-5833.

Education Update

Oregon Department of Education February 2016

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Upcoming OpportunitiesArticles and Resources on Scholarships, Grants, Professional Development, and More…

Chemistry Teacher Award Nominations

Nominations are now open for the 2016 American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education Region Awards for Excellence in High School Teaching. The purpose of this award is to recognize, encourage, and stimulate outstanding teachers of high school chemistry in the Northwest Region. The winner is recognized at a regional meeting in Anchorage, Alaska June 26-28, 2016 and receives both a cash award and a plaque. Nominations are due April 1, 2016. Please visit our website for more information and download nomination forms here.

Fuel Up to Play 60

Fuel Up to Play 60 supports Oregon students and school wellness through grant funding for Healthy Eating and Physical Activity initiatives. For the 2015-16 school year, over $97,000 has been awarded to 31 Oregon schools. Schools have used the funding for environmental changes such as expanding/starting school breakfast programs, cafeteria makeovers, physical activity equipment for PE, and more. All schools may utilize Fuel Up to Play 60 for free resources and ideas. Please direct any questions to Crista Hawkins, manager of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program for Oregon schools.

School Nurse of the YearPlease nominate your school nurse for School Nurse of the Year, sponsored by the Oregon School Nurse Association. We all know the clear correlation between health and students’ academic achievement. Your nomination is a wonderful way to recognize your school nurse’s invaluable contributions to students, the educational team, and the learning community! Please access the nomination form here. All nominations must be postmarked by February 15, 2016 and returned to Christy Middleton, Beaverton School District Health Services, to the address provided on the form.

School Employee Wellness Conference

Register online for the annual Oregon School Employee Wellness Conference on March 20-22, 2016 to be held at the Riverhouse in Bend. There is no conference registration fee and scholarships are available to help with travel costs. The conference will feature local, state, and national speakers focused on building personal skills to rejuvenate your heath, how to create a culture of wellness, and more! School employees, school and district administrators, human resource staff, community college employees, education service district employees, school nurses, wellness coordinators, local public health and health educators, and school board members are all encouraged to attend. Click here for more information or contact Inge Aldersebaes.

Oregon Promise applications due March 1Attention school leaders, counselors, students, and families! The deadline is coming up for the new Oregon Promise program—offering graduating high school seniors and eligible GED recipients an opportunity to have some or all of their community college tuition covered. Students can learn more and apply at www.OregonPromise.org. This program is available to high school students graduating in Spring 2016. Students must have at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA, have resided in Oregon for at least 12 months prior to community college enrollment, and enroll at least half-time in community college in fall 2016. To apply, students must complete the Oregon Promise application by March 1 (5pm PST), submit their high school transcript, and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or its approved alternate. Students must accept all state and federal grants they are awarded to qualify for the Oregon Promise.