ONTARIO – That some students at Ontario Middle School are behind their peers in basic skills in reading, writing and math is no surprise to school leaders, they say.
Ontario School District administrators on Friday, Dec. 8, issued an unsigned statement explaining that because administrators have a “system of close monitoring and evaluation,” educators were “able to anticipate” students at the largest middle school in Malheur County would post some of the worst test results in Oregon.
The statement was the first formal reaction of school officials after state education leaders notified Ontario administrators Nov. 16 that the middle school was being put on a special state watch list for poor performance. The district’s statement said administrators are waiting for “detailed information that will explain the rationale” behind the state’s decision to list the middle school for what is called “Targeted Support and Improvement.”
District officials hadn’t responded to repeated requests for the notice, which was finally made public by the Oregon Department of Education on Thursday, Nov. 30. Nikki Albisu, superintendent of the Ontario School District, and Lisa Longoria, principal of the middle school, have not responded to requests for comment.
Taryn Smith, the district’s public relations coordinator and Bret Uptmor, school board chair, didn’t respond immediately to written questions Monday about the statement.
Smith did report Monday that “records do not exist” of any communication from Albisu to board members in more than two weeks after the superintendent was notified about the middle school listing.
The district’s statement suggested, however, that school officials were aware of the middle school’s problems. Without providing details, the statement said school leaders had “strategies” to overcome the middle school’s weak performance among English learners and students with disabilities.
The school is required to design an improvement plan because 90% of Hispanic students learning English along with students living in poverty, with disabilities and underserved racial groups did not show expected reading, writing and math proficiency. It’s unclear if district officials sent the statement directly to parents.
Education leaders wrote that the state education agency recently changed “indicators for success and improvement” that makes it difficult to “accurately compare data.” The district did not identify the changes but said they could “infer” even from results they question where students can improve. District officials, who have had access to the state test scores since July, didn’t say when administrators noticed the poor performance on state tests, which students took last spring.
“These areas of focus are not a surprise to us,” the statement said. “Middle school administration had already identified English language arts and math achievement, specifically targeting students with disabilities and English learners,” the statement said.
The district statement said that each year schools assess group and student performance and then adjust how they teach those students based on the test scores. However, administrators did not explain why such assessments didn’t lead to better results for Ontario middle school students.
The district said the middle school staff and parents worked to “establish goals” but didn’t share what those were.
School officials in recent school board meetings have been critical of the state tests, saying they don’t accurately measure student performance.
That criticism appeared in the statement as well. Education leaders said that the state education agency recently changed “indicators for success and improvement” that makes it difficult to “accurately compare data.” The district did not identify the changes but said they could “infer” even from results they question where students can improve.
District officials, who have had access to the state test scores since July, didn’t say when administrators noticed the poor performance on state tests, which students took last spring.
Administrators with the school district continued to blame poor attendance among the groups that showed poor performance.
“This has been a contributing factor at OMS,” the statement said. “We can expect a negative impact on achievement.”
But state records reviewed by the Enterprise show that 80% of Hispanic students learning English and students with disabilities regularly attend school.
The middle school will spend the next four years on a state improvement plan and will receive federal funding to help pay for additional staff, training, and other resources.
The statement said Longoria and her team have a “solid track record” of boosting performance among students learning English and students with disabilities. However, the statement doesn’t explain what the school’s done in the past to improve student performance.
The district also said that “vast social-emotional needs of students,” especially middle schoolers, further “widens the gaps in achievement.”
“Seeing students for who they are,” administrators wrote,” building relationships and support systems is critical.”
According to the Oregon Department of Education’s notification letter, district officials must submit a plan for how they will marshal improvement among the lagging students by next September. The Malheur Education Service District Office and state education agency staff will collaborate with middle school administrators on devising the plan.
CORRECTION: The Ontario School District has no record that Superintendent Nikki Albisu notified school board members or administrators at the Ontario Middle School about the state notice. An earlier version incorrectly said there was no record she notified executives on her team. The Enterprise apologizes for the error.
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