Recently the Oregon Department of Education issued their yearly “Report Cards” for public schools. A number of Central Oregon high schools received an “Outstanding” rating — the highest rating awarded by the state.
The State considered the following Central Oregon high school Outstanding where:
(1) on the SAT college entrance exam 28% of the students took the test compared to a national average of 47%.
(2) on this same entrance exam the students scored significantly below average in reading, writing, and mathematics (the 3 tested areas) — in reading 476 vs 501, in writing 445 vs. 492, and in mathematics 485 vs 516 (on a 800 point scale).
(3) on state testing the students scored just below the state average on 3 of 4 measures (reading, writing, and mathematics) and above average on 1 measure (science).
Since when is below average academic performance considered worthy of an “Outstanding” rating for a high school? We (parents, taxpayers, and students) should be outraged by the blatant mis-representation from the Oregon Department of Education. We deserve better than this.
