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Smarter balance assessment

April 2015, seniors attempted one of their final tests in order to pass graduation requirements and impress local and national colleges. Starting in 2016, high school students across the country are required to take the Smarter Balance Assessment and others like it. Due to the hard work of the student’s, Gresham High School received above average scores for the state of Oregon. However, this April provides another opportunity for the class of 2017 to face these challenges and excel above the rest as juniors take their shot at the test.

There are multiple obstacles that students attending the school face. For example, there are many ethnic and social economic differences throughout Gresham. However, students continue to excel. 82 percent of students passed the English test last year. A fair portion of the success should be attributed to staff like english teacher Elizabeth Hakala and others who prepped the students.

“Ty Gonrowski and I worked as a team to look into this new topic of Smarter Balance,” Hakala said. “We used the information we found to prepare our students and had constant check-ins throughout the year to make sure they were progressing.”

The school also faces uncontrollable factors that directly impact students. Currently, there are 1,570 students enrolled. Out of those 1,570 students, 52 percent are economically disadvantaged and another 23 percent are English Language Learners. Due to these challenges, teachers must diversify how they teach lessons and use outside sources to communicate.

The test is distributed by test administrator Barbara Cook, who helps overlooks all test preparations in the school.

“I feel that students realized that the test last year was not as bad as it seems,” Cook said. “The most important thing a student can do is show up to school and gain the knowledge.”

Senior Carlos Lua has advice for those who are preparing for the test. “Do not panic. People will always try to build up the pressure and it is okay to feel it,” Lua said. “As long as you are calm, cool, and collected, you will do very well.”

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