Oregon

Letter from the Editor: We help decipher Oregon’s dismal test scores

Published

2 months ago

October 6, 2024

Letter from the Editor: We help decipher Oregon’s dismal test scores

As I have said before, journalists work behind the scenes every day to lobby for release of public information. That came into sharp relief recently when Oregon delayed publishing school test scores.

The reason cited by the Department of Education was hard to argue with: The state said it wanted to make the scores more transparent and easier to digest.

“The change comes after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on a national study that ranked Oregon among the worst states in the country for student achievement transparency,” education reporter Julia Silverman wrote.

But skeptical journalists also wondered whether the delay was to give government spinmeisters a bit more time to soften the blow of bad results. And the planned release on a Friday raised eyebrows further.

Lynne Terry, editor of the Oregon Capital Chronicle, flagged the issue for other Oregon journalists.

The “Friday news dump” is a tried-and-true tactic to bury news on a day (better yet a Friday afternoon or evening) when newsrooms are slammed wrapping up the workweek. And follow-up articles over the weekend are less likely because of lighter newsroom staffing. By Monday, interest fades as new storylines emerge.

The dropping of important information on Fridays has been around as long as there have been people paid to manage the release of bad news.

Marc Siegel, Education Department spokesperson, denies that was the intent. “That idea never came up. ODE chose Friday to give journalists more time to review, ask clarifying questions and write about a very large volume of data and ensure the data are accessible to the public and press.”

As far as Oregon test scores, a short embargo is typical for complicated data sets.

“I have been covering test score data release in Oregon for 27 years,” said Betsy Hammond, longtime education editor at The Oregonian/OregonLive. “We have always gotten the data on an embargoed basis with about three days to parse it before we are allowed to make it public. …

“In my experience, having three days to examine and analyze the data and ask school districts questions has helped our newsroom and others avoid mistakes and provide accurate contextualized information to help readers understand what’s there.”

She and Silverman agreed, however, that the Friday release was problematic. Test scores have routinely been released on Thursdays, three days after journalists receive them under embargo. Keep in mind the tests were given last spring.

After hearing of the unexpected delay, journalists from the Salem Reporter, Oregon Capital Chronicle, Oregon Public Broadcasting and The Oregonian/OregonLive wrote to the director of the Education Department, Charlene Williams, and copied their concerns to the office of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek.

Citing public records law, the letter noted timely release was required. Also, “embargoing public information until a Friday is a common tactic to limit the dissemination of that information to the widest audience possible,” the letter said. “As journalists, our job is to help the public understand a wide variety of issues, including public education. Releasing information near a weekend, when it is commonly known people consume less news, will from our perspective limit transparency.”

Ryan Haas, managing editor at OPB, took the lead in drafting the letter. The Salem Reporter’s Rachel Alexander, who had filed the records request, signed on along with Hammond and Terry.

Kotek’s office said the initial delay was solely “to ensure the data was more accessible and comprehensible to the press and public.” Upon learning of the media’s public records request, the governor’s office asked the department to move up the release time.

By Monday, the Department of Education said it would release the information on Thursday, as usual. And indeed, the news was bad.

Silverman had noted it was difficult for people to compare school performance over time, from before the COVID-19 pandemic to afterward. Comparing test results for each school or district involved finding data points in multiple large spreadsheets.

That remains the case (though Siegel said more data would soon be available).

Even with the extra time, the data released Thursday is not easy to parse for parents. Comparing the new scores to those from just before and after the pandemic requires locating and downloading at least six separate Excel files from the state’s website.

The Oregonian/OregonLive to the rescue. In order to add clarity, data specialist Mark Friesen jumped in to create data visualizations showing pre- and post-pandemic performance trends for every school in our database, found at schools.oregonlive.com.

Readers can compare test scores in 2018 to the current scores. This helps pinpoint learning losses during the pandemic.

We hope readers find it informative.

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Oregon

Oregon Lands Commitment From Massive Transfer OL Isaiah World

Published

13 minutes ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Oregon Lands Commitment From Massive Transfer OL Isaiah World

Nevada offensive line transfer Isaiah World has committed to Oregon. The 6-foot-8, 309-pounder was was on campus in Eugene for a visit with the Ducks that started on Monday evening.

World is the latest transfer portal commitment for Dan Lanning and the Ducks, who add the No. 7 offensive tackle in the transfer portal according to the On3 rankings.

The San Diego native entered the transfer portal earlier this month after spending the last four seasons in Reno. As a redshirt junior World has one year of eligibility remaining for the 2025 season.

He fills a major need for Oregon, who could lose both of their starting tackles following the 2024 season in Ajani Cornelius and Josh Conerly Jr. Oregon will also lose Marcus Harper II, who will exhaust his college eligibility following this year. World is the second offensive tackle commitment from the transfer portal for coach A’lique Terry, who also landed a commitment from former Texas State offensive tackle Alex Harkey on Wednesday.

Matthew Bedford, a former Indiana offensive lineman who transferred to Oregon last offseason, could have a potential to return after missing much of 2024 with an injury and appearing in just one regular season game.

World brings a strong track record with him to Eugene, having earned All-Mountain West honorable mention honors in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Prior to playing for the Wolfpack, World was a three-star (80.92 per On3 Industry) prospect from Lincoln High School in the 2021 recruiting class.

Fans should expect the Ducks to continue weighing their options along the offensive line in the transfer portal, as they’ve been linked to Vanderbilt transfer Gunnar Hansen and Texas State transfer Alex Harkey.

Oregon transfer portal tracker

Departures

-OL JacQawn McRoy (Arkansas)

-OLB Jaxson Jones (Utah)

-OLB Emar’rion Winston

-OLB Jaeden Moore

-DB Khamari Terrell

-DB Tyler Turner

Additions

–S Dillon Thieneman (Purdue)

-CB Theran Johnson (Northwestern)

-TE Jamari Johnson (Louisville)

-OT Alex Harkey (Texas State)

-OT Isaiah World (Nevada)

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Oregon

Oregon man pleads guilty to stalking UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers

Published

8 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Press Room

Oregon man pleads guilty to stalking UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers

An Oregon man pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Connecticut superior court to stalking and harassing University of Connecticut basketball star guard Paige Bueckers, ESPN reported.

Robert Cole Parmalee, 40, of Grants Pass, was arrested in September on charges of breach of peace, stalking and second-degree harassment of Bueckers.

A protective order will remain in place until 2064, according to court records.

Parmalee received a one-year suspended sentence and three years probation, during which time he is barred from Connecticut and any arenas, hotels or practice facilities where the UConn basketball team is present, according to ESPN.

UConn campus police became aware of Parmalee in June after he allegedly sent “rambling” emails to university staff that said he was trying to marry a member of the basketball team, according to ESPN. Parmalee also is identified as “Parmelee.”

Parmalee also posted on social media about wanting to marry Bueckers, including sharing a post with a fake wedding invitation and posting pictures of him with an engagement ring on his tongue. In an August TikTok post, Parmalee wrote, “I’m coming to UCONN Paige Madison Bueckers, I’ll be in Hartford tomorrow morning,” shared photos of himself at an airport with tickets.

Oregon court records show Parmalee has a history of criminal charges going back to 2002, including sexual abuse, harassment, driving under the influence and possession of methamphetamines.

In 2023, he was arrested after his roommates alleged he set the house on fire in Josephine County in order to get money for a bigger house, court records show. The case was dismissed after a certified mental health evaluator found him unable to aid and assist in his own defense.

The evaluator reported Parmalee appeared to be displaying a psychotic disorder and likely a schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

Isabel Funk covers breaking news and public safety for the Statesman Journal. Funk can be reached at ifunk@statesmanjournal.com or on X at @isabeldfunk

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Oregon

Strong winds knock out power to thousands on Oregon coast

Published

15 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Press Room

Strong winds knock out power to thousands on Oregon coast

CANNON BEACH, Ore. (KPTV) – Strong winds overnight caused power outages throughout northwest Oregon and southwest Washington.

On Tuesday, the National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning along the Oregon coastline and a Wind Advisory in the I-5 corridor. The winds began to calm by 4 a.m. Wednesday.

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As of 6:35 a.m., Pacific Power was reporting about 16,632 customers without power from Cannon Beach to Astoria. About 235 customers were without power in the Lincoln City area.

Pacific Power confirmed the outages were due to storm damage. Crews are working to make repairs and restore service.

The Jewell School District, the Neah-Kah-Nie School District and the Warrenton-Hammond School District will all be starting on a two-hour delay due to power outages on the coast.

SEE ALSO:

This cold, rainy weather in the Portland metro is a reminder that the winter storm season is nearly here.

Portland General Electric was reporting about 1,860 customers without power throughout their service area Wednesday morning.

Due to power outages, the Colton School District in Clackamas County is starting three hours late Wednesday.

Welches School (K-8) and Firwood Elementary in the Oregon Trail School District will be closed due to no power.

Vancouver police responded to a downed tree on Northwest Lincoln Avenue between Northwest 59th Street and Northwest 62nd Street. Crews quickly cleaned up the debris and reopened the roadway.

Traffic Alert!
NW Lincoln Ave is closed between NW 59th St and NW 62nd St due to a tree in the roadway. Please use an alternate route. pic.twitter.com/2FbTMhELw2
— Vancouver Police USA (@VancouverPDUSA) December 18, 2024