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Education Northwest analyzed test scores and procedures at King School after the Northeast Portland building saw huge swings in test scores from year to year. This year, the school's scores have stayed low, making it one of Portland's lowest-performing.

(Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian)

For the third straight year, Portland's Woodlawn and King schools stand out among Oregon schools for their grades on the state's annual school report cards.

But the pair share a distinction their leaders would rather not have: They’re among only three Oregon schools that haven’t managed to rise in the rankings since being placed in the state’s lowest-performing category three years ago.

Both schools have been named “priority schools,” a title reserved for the bottom 5 percent of high-poverty schools, again this year. Of the 36 Oregon schools that were named priority schools when the label was created in 2012, only one other Oregon school, Klamath County’s Bonanza Elementary, remains on that list.

Schools earned their state report card grades according to their overall student test scores in 2013-14, as well as performance and participation rates among specific demographic groups.

Woodlawn and King were among a total of six priority schools in PPS, joined by Chief Joseph/Ockley Green, Madison High, Roosevelt High and Rosa Parks elementary.

Of those schools, only Woodlawn and King also fell into the “level 1” category, which denotes the worst-performing 5 percent of all schools in Oregon regardless of socioeconomic makeup.

“It’s just not acceptable,” said Melissa Goff, the district’s assistant superintendent of Teaching and Learning.

Other level 1 Portland schools are Alliance High School, Boise-Elliott Elementary, George Middle School and Vernon Elementary School.

Both King and Woodlawn have been under heavy scrutiny in recent years for low achievement rates. King came under fire in 2012, after a year of stunning improvement on state test scores sparked allegations that the school had cheated. Others said a multimillion federal grant had succeeded in boosting student achievement. The next year, district observers kept tabs on teachers administering the tests and scores plummeted.

Meanwhile, at Woodlawn, district officials have switched up school leadership since last school year to fulfill the terms of a three-year, $1.5 million federal grant aimed at turning the school around. Former Reike Elementary principal Andrea Porter-Lopez, who took the helm at Woodlawn this year, says she's focusing on "retooling the school climate" to improve relationships with teachers, students and parents.

Members of the Woodlawn community feel betrayed, she says, after years of being "last on the list" of schools slated to benefit from programs and services. The sour relationship culminated in the school's near-closure in 2013.

“You can’t expect student achievement form disheartened teachers and students,” Porter-Lopez said.

Porter-Lopez also hopes an investment in staffing will help boost student achievement. Using the federal grant money, she hired several teaching coaches and a family coordinator, and paid for teachers to work late teaching kids in an after-school program.

Smaller fixes, like offering a longer breakfast period so the school’s large population of low-income students have a chance to eat before school and creating more opportunity for parents to meet with teachers and administrators, will also play a role.

King and Woodlawn share a common profile. Both have high numbers of low-income students, and about half of each school’s population is black. As Goff noted, it’s not secret that at PPS, “we don’t do as well in supporting black boys in their learning as we do with white students.”

Porter-Lopez said although Woodlawn failed to move up in the rankings, students in the school did record significant growth on their state test scores. However, the school got dinged for failing to get enough kids to take the state tests.

“We’re in motion to make an improvement, but we’re not there yet,” she said. “Another year of significant growth will change our achievement rate.”

Along with the level 1 schools, seven Portland schools fell into the level 2 category, which represents schools scoring in the lowest 5 to 15 percent statewide. Those schools are:

Cesar Chavez Elementary School

Jefferson High School

Scott Elementary School

Sitton Elementary School

Rosa Parks Elementary School

Leadership &Entrepreneurship Academy,

Sunnyside Environmental School

Which Portland schools performed well this year? Find out by reading our full coverage.

--Kelly House