Jefferson High Graduation 2014

Family and friends await North Portland's Jefferson High School graduation on June 6, 2014. The school's state test scores improved this year in nearly every subject.

(James Reddick/The Oregonian)

Portland Public Schools scores on statewide tests showed improvement this year, with modest districtwide gains in nearly every grade level and subject area tested.

>>Search our database of all Portland Public Schools 2014 test scores.

Standardized test results released Wednesday by the Oregon Department of Education show the percentage of students who met state benchmarks in reading, math, science and writing held steady or rose by single-digits in most subjects and grades. Test scores dipped slightly in third- and fourth-grade reading and math and high school writing and science.

Superintendent Carole Smith said in a written statement Wednesday that the test scores represent overall progress, but she's "particularly concerned" that third grade reading scores declined for a second straight year. Smith identified early literacy as a key goal for the 2014-15 school year.

"This reaffirms our decision to focus the entire system on this key milestone," Smith said in the release.

The statewide Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is administered to third- through eighth-graders, as well as 11th-graders.

Portland students performed slightly better than the state average in every subject except 11th grade science, where Roosevelt’s worst-in-the-state passing rate and Jefferson’s twelfth-worst rate skewed the district wide passing rate to 54 percent, eight percentage points below the state average.

A closer look at the data reveals a range of good and bad news from school to school and subject to subject.

Rigler rises fast, King holds steady

Rigler School's fifth-grade scores were among the district's most improved. The Northeast Portland school's fifth-grade passing rate rose by 26 percentage point in all subjects, bringing it up to 68 percent in reading, 68 percent in math and 62 percent in science. The scores are still below average among all Portland fifth-graders.

At King School, test scores plummeted in 2012-13 after questions about potential test irregularities prompted district observers to closely monitor the school's testing. The school's passing rates continued to decline in some subjects this year, while other areas showed modest gains.

The Northeast Portland school's third-graders showed marked improvement in both reading and math, but upper elementary and middle school scores at King were a mix of slight improvements and declines. King's eighth grade science scores improved 12 percentage points over last year, but were still the state's worst.



Middle school declines, gains

North Portland's George Middle School recorded declines across the board, with the biggest dips coming in seventh-grade reading and sixth-grade math. Passing rates in both declined by 10 percentage points, to 36 in seventh grade reading and 16 in sixth grade math. The figures are among the state's worst in both subjects.

On the bright side, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at Southeast Portland's Bridger School notched staggering gains in nearly every subject. Most notably, Bridger's sixth grade reading and math pass rates jumped by more than 40 percentage points apiece to 69 percent in both subjects. The improvements rocketed the school's performance in those areas from among the state's lowest to just below the statewide average in reading and just above average in math. Bridger students also recorded double-digit gains in eighth-grade reading, math and science, while notching more modest gains in seventh-grade reading and math.

Jefferson improves, Roosevelt stumbles

Among Portland high schools, Jefferson showed the most significant year-over-year improvement. Students in the Northeast Portland school notched gains in every category except science, where passing scores declined by three percentage points, to 22 percent. Most notably, writing scores rebounded after a year of significant decline. Passing scores had dropped 20 percentage points last year, to 34.5 percent, but this year 48 percent of Jefferson students passed the state writing test. Jefferson students also improved in reading, with passing rates jumping 10 percentage points to 66 percent, and math, with an 13 percentage point improvement to 51 percent.

Jefferson Principal Margaret Calvert said the students who took the test last year were the first class of students who must take college level courses in order to graduate. Jefferson, where 76 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch, became a "focus school" in the 2011-12 school year, when the students were freshmen. Since then, students have benefited from college course offerings as well as an option to work with Self Enhancement, Inc., a nonprofit that caters to at-risk youth.

“This is the first group of students who have had that whole package of really strong partnerships, and it shows in the scores,” Calvert said.

Even with the gains, Jefferson’s scores were among the district’s lowest high school scores, and were below the state average in every category. Calvert said she hoped increased teacher collaboration and continued refining of curriculum this year would lead to continued gains next year.

“Of course we celebrate improvement, but we also know we have a ways to go,” she said.

Roosevelt, on the other hand, saw declines in every subject. The school's passing rates on eleventh-grade reading and math tests dipped by seven percentage points, while writing fell 5 percentage points to 43 percent. Most glaringly, only 9 percent of Roosevelt students passed the science test, a 10 percentage point decline from last year.

Former Roosevelt principal Charlene Williams, who left the school this year to become the district’s director of school performance for the Roosevelt cluster and Benson High, said she saw the school’s performance as a blip on the radar after several years of steady improvement.

“As I say, Rough Riders are gonna ride,” she said. “This is just a dip.”

The particularly low science scores, she said, could be attributed to administrators’ and teachers’ sharp focus on improving reading and math scores in recent years.

“Not that science isn’t critical, as well, but we were working pretty much on the basics for the last couple of years,” she said.

Williams noted that Roosevelt and George High this year are sharing a $600,000 state STEM Lab School Grant aimed at improving student performance in science, technology, engineering and math. The money should pay for professional development and school resources, she said, that could help the school boost its science scores next year.

--Kelly House