Portland Oregonian
September 30, 2004

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High Test Scores Validate Charter Schools

By AIMEE GREEN

With a few years of strong test scores to their names, the Three Rivers Charter School in West Linn and Mitch charter school in Tualatin have established themselves as serious places to learn. That's despite an American Federation of Teachers study released last month that found charter school students nationwide performed significantly worse than students in regular public schools. According to the comparison, fourth-graders in charter schools were about a half-year behind in reading and math.

Three Rivers and Mitch also are outperforming local charter schools. With the exception of the Multisensory Learning Academy in the Reynolds School District, state test data from the four other Portland-area charter schools with benchmark data available for spring showed mixed performance. All posted scores below state and district averages.

Three Rivers and Mitch also outperformed many schools in 2004 in the school districts that sponsor them: The percentage of fifth- and eighth-graders passing state benchmarks at Three Rivers Charter School exceeded averages for the West Linn-Wilsonville district in nine out of 10 tests in reading, math, science, writing and math problem-solving. On problem-solving-Three Rivers' highest performing area-100 percent of fifth- and eighth-graders passed state benchmarks. Meanwhile, 76 percent of fifth-graders and 62 percent of eighth-graders at West Linn-Wilsonville schools did. Every third-grader at Mitch last spring met or exceeded state standards in reading and math, the two subjects the state tests third-graders in. No elementary school in the Tigard-Tualatin School District posted scores as high.

The test scores come as affirmation to advocates of West Linn's and Tualatin's charter schools, who said their schools, once questioned by skeptics, are gaining wider respect. "The word is out on them (Three Rivers)," said Pam Alarcon, whose son attended nearby Willamette Primary School last year. "There's a buzz around here about the charter school."

Alarcon said test scores and drop-in visits won her approval. "I would just pop in when they didn't expect me, just to see what's going on there," Alarcon said. "You've got kids who are very engaged in what they're doing. They like it. (The teachers) are not teaching for test scores. I don't think they're teaching for anything but to have the kids learn."

In the spring, Alarcon entered her son's name into a lottery for admission into Three Rivers. Her son was randomly assigned the 16th spot on a waiting list of 65 students, the longest yet in the 100-student school's three-year history. Worried that her son wasn't getting the help he needed to get his skills up to grade level at Willamette Primary, Alarcon enrolled him in a private school. Mitch also has a waiting list of 20 to 25 students for its elementary grades.

How They Operate

Charter schools are public schools that receive 80 percent of state per-pupil funding. The other 20 percent goes to the district or body that sponsors the charter school. Charter schools have more freedom from regulation than traditional public schools. More than 50 charter schools have opened in Oregon since they were authorized by the state in 1999. Most originally were created by parents or teachers who hoped to offer a type of schooling they thought was unavailable in their district. Today, many are started by school districts.

Nationally, education officials said one reason charter schools are struggling is because of the large numbers of low-performing students who turn to them as alternatives to traditional schools.

Educators at Three Rivers and Mitch said that while they don't cater to large numbers of struggling students, they enroll representative samples of their surrounding communities. Each year, both schools randomly select students in lotteries. Three Rivers classifies about 11 percent of its students as in special education. That's similar to the percentage of students district-wide in West Linn-Wilsonville. Mitch is calculating its special-education population this year, but it estimates that 10 to 20 percent of its students are in special education. Tigard-Tualatin reported 10 percent on its latest state report card.

But Steve Lowder, superintendent of the Tigard-Tualatin School District, said there are significant differences between Mitch and Tigard-Tualatin schools. Mitch attracts parents who are "very dedicated" to their children's learning, he said. "When parents work with teachers and the school, you have this synergy that drives student achievement," Lowder said. "Not all of our parents can be that engaged."

Lowder also said the charter school doesn't attract students with severe learning disabilities because parents want the more established and larger special-education programs that the district offers. But Lowder said he can't deny Mitch's performance is impressive. "They've been very successful over the past two years, and you've got to congratulate them for that," Lowder said.

Debi Lorence, Mitch school director, thinks that Mitch is struggling to gain respect without the kinds of qualifiers mentioned by Lowder and others. She thinks such qualifiers are inaccurate. Lorence credits the school's scores to its focus on core knowledge and a carefully choreographed curriculum that doesn't repeat itself as the curriculum does in many traditional public schools. Students start learning Spanish in kindergarten. This year, they began wearing uniforms.

Each is taught personal responsibility for his or her learning, educators said. Take, for example, students who leave assignments at home, said Dianne Wright, a third-grade teacher. "If they said, 'My mom forgot to give it to me,' I said, ' Well, is it your mom's homework? " Wright said.

Lorence said the school spends very little time focusing on state tests. It doesn't have students repeatedly retest on computers as she said some public schools do, she said. "It's a game, a foolish game," Lorence said. But test scores are the evidence the public is looking for, Lorence said. Mitch will have to prove itself again this school year, when its new fifth- and eighth-graders take state benchmark tests.

Lofty Standards

At the Three Rivers Charter School, founders Katherine Holtgraves and Merilee Bales said the school has established itself as high-performing by setting lofty standards and giving its six teachers a greater voice.

Heather Paris, a teacher new to the school this year, criticizes the charter school she worked at last year-struggling Victory Middle School in Portland-for lacking organization and communication. She thinks Three Rivers works because it is run by experienced educators who work long hours.

Holtgraves and Bales also think the school's small size has helped its middle-school-age students stay focused. "The question I keep thinking about is, 'Could this happen in a bigger system?'" Holtgraves said. Three Rivers caps its enrollment at 100 students. The West Linn-Wilsonville district has more than six times as many students in each of its middle schools. In all, the district enrolls almost 8,000 students.

Jane Stickney, West Linn-Wilsonville assistant superintendent, said the district statistically encounters more variables among its student population because it is so much larger. It's more difficult to help every child pass state standards, Stickney said. "There are classrooms of kids where every kid passed," she said.

Stickney agrees, however, that Three Rivers has done a great job. Praise for Three Rivers also has come from the lone school board member who in 2001 voted against creating Three Rivers. Tom Bruggere has come to think differently during the past year or two. Holtgraves has mounted to the wall a framed quote that Bruggere made during a school board meeting in the spring. He described Three Rivers as a "marvelous experience" for students and added that it's "not just an experiment but a very good program."

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