YCIS earns top scores

Yamhill-Carlton Intermediate School's team efforts led to "amazing scores" on the Smarter Balance assessments students took last spring, Superintendent Charan Cline said.

Out of about 190 schools across Oregon, of all sizes and socio-economic statuses, YCIS fifth-graders ranked 11th in math, 11th in science and 13th in language arts.

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The school's sixth-graders ranked ninth in both language arts and math. And its eighth-graders ranked 29th in language arts.

"Teachers are doing wonderful stuff and kids are just performing," Cline said, beaming over the results.

Principal Michael Fisher added, "We knew we'd done great last year." The scores confirmed it.

Fishr and Cline credited teachers, who stress that students need to be able to explain why they answer as they do, in addition to getting the right answer. They break down Common Core learning goals into manageable targets, make sure students can analyze their work and see their progress, and intervene when necessary to keep students from falling behind, they said.

"It's good strong team teaching and students taking control of their own learning," Cline said.