MONDAY NIGHT
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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Kindergarten test treated like a game BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
COOS BAY — Coos Bay kindergartners started school Monday, but introductions, classroom visits and the Kindergarten Assessment took place last week. The state-mandated assessment launched last year, the results of which are to be used as a tool to help school districts and communities plan early childhood education programs. Students are tested in early literacy and math and teachers observe them over the first few weeks of school to deter-
mine their “approaches to learning” (ability to follow directions and interact with other students and teachers). The assessment received pushback from parents and communities last year, who saw it as an entrance exam that dooms youngsters before they even enter the classroom. That’s not the point of the assessment, said Coos Bay schools director of teaching and learning Chad Putman. It’s not a “high-stakes test,” the Oregon Department of Education clarified during assessment training last month, distancing the
Broadening U.S. effort to combat militants
How they fared Go to theworldlink.com to see how each South Coast elementary school scored on the Kindergarten Assessment last fall.
assessment from the buzzword frequently associated with the upcoming Smarter Balanced assessment and Common Core State Standards. “I never call it an assessment. I always call it an interview,” said Blossom Gulch Elementary kindergarten teacher Carli Ainsworth. “We make it more like we’re playing a game.”
In fact, the Kindergarten Assessment isn’t new for Coos Bay schools. It’s based on easyCBM tests that Coos Bay teachers were already using to test their students three times a year. Because kindergarten teachers now do the state-mandated assessment at the beginning of the year, Coos Bay skips the first easyCBM test and puts the Kindergarten Assessment results in its place. Coos Bay teachers still administer the easyCBM tests in winter and again in spring to see how students have progressed. Kindergartners got some quality
one-on-one time with their new teachers during Kindergarten Kick-Off last week — and a calm, quiet environment to take the assessment. Blossom Gulch’s six kindergarten classes this fall will have about 26 kids each. “Kiddos react very differently to it,” Ainsworth said of the assessment. “For some, it’s no big deal, and others you can see they get a little bit nervous because they want to do well. But 5- and 6-year-olds are pretty adaptable. “The kindergarten teacher in me SEE TEST | A8
Big mosquito in the fleet
BY LARA JAKES AND JULIE PACE The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will go on the offensive against the Islamic State group with a broader counterterror mission than he previously has been willing to embrace, U.S. officials said Monday. The new plan, however, still won’t commit U.S. troops to a ground war against the brutal insurgency and will rely heavily for now on allies to pitch in for what could be an extended campaign. Obama’s more aggressive posture — which officials say will target Islamic State militants comprehensively and not just to protect U.S. interests or help resolve humanitarian disasters — reflects a new direction for a president who campaigned to end the war in Iraq and has generally been deeply reluctant to use U.S. military might since he took office in 2009. “Almost every single county on Earth has a role to play in eliminating the ISIL threat and the evil that it represents,” Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Monday night, using an acronym for the Islamic State. He said nations around the world are seeking to defeat the militancy with a coalition “built to endure for the months, and perhaps years, to come.” The U.S. has already launched SEE MILITANTS | A8
By Lou Sennick, The World
The Captain Harold, part of the tow boat fleet on Coos Bay, passes by the fishing fleet on the bay Monday. Dozens of small fishing boats have been trolling the bay striving to hook a Chinook as they migrate into the bay. They are waiting for the fall rains to arrive before heading up rivers and streams to spawn.
Two rescued from Cape Arago cliffs Deputies say incident highlights need for awareness, SAR participation ■
BY THOMAS MORIARTY
Police reports . . . . A2 40 Stories . . . . . . . A2 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
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Guard Air Station North Bend arrived on scene around 10:02 p.m., and was able to pinpoint the hikers’ location using a forwardlooking infrared system and a spotlight. The helicopter crew eventually decided to hoist Klemm and Wery from the cliff. Deputies gave them a ride back from the North Bend air station to pick up their car. Rescuers stress that the operation, which took minimal time, isn’t typical for search and rescue
incidents. The hikers’ access to a cellphone proved critical in finding them. Sheriff’s Office Staff Sgt. Pat Downing said the county’s search and rescue team has had a pretty steady number of callouts in recent years. As people head into the woods each fall for hunting and mushroom picking, dispatchers start getting calls of missing or stranded outdoorsmen. “We’ve had two or three in the
Warning signs Dolores Pope, Coos Bay Deanna Less, Lakeside
Obituaries | A5
Beach where family drown last month will finally get signs. In 2012, eight children nearly drown at the same lake. Page A5
FORECAST
INSIDE
SEE GE | A8
Contributed photo by the Coos County Sheriff’s Office
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter searches for two stranded hikers on the cliffs near Cape Arago State Park on Sunday night, as seen through a sheriff’s deputy’s night-vision scope.
STATE
NEW YORK (AP) — General Electric, a household name for more than a century in part for making households easier to run, is leaving the home. The company is selling the division that invented the toaster in 1905 and now sells refrigerators, stoves and laundry machines. GE instead wants to focus on building industrial machines such as aircraft engines, locomotives, gas-fired turbines and medical imaging equipment — which are much bigger and more complex than washers, and more profitable. “They are no longer going to be a consumer company,” says Andrew Inkpen, a professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management who studies GE. based in Fairfield, GE, Connecticut, Monday announced the sale of its appliance division to the Swedish appliance maker Electrolux for $3.3 billion. Electrolux will still sell appliances
COOS BAY — Two stranded hikers were rescued from the cliffs near Cape Arago State Park on Sunday night by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter in what sheriff’s deputies describe as a textbook rescue. According to the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, 19-year-old Michael Klemm, of Texas; and 37year-old Troy Wery, of San Diego; were dressed appropriately for the we a t h e r, had food and a cellSurvival phone. But the essentials pair had The Sheriff’s Office become advises South Coast residisorientdents hiking or ed while recreating outdoors to hiking in dress appropriately for the nearby the weather and carry woods and food, water, a flashlight wandered and a cellphone. u n t i l Carrying additional surn i g h t fa l l vival items, including a t ra p p e d whistle and space blanket, is also recommended. them on the cliffs. T h ey also had run out of water. After the hikers called 911 at 8:30 p.m., deputies responded to trailhead with park personnel and were able to spot the light from the pair’s cellphone on a distant cliff using a night vision device. An MH-65 Dolphin from Coast
DEATHS
GE selling appliance division
The World
past couple of months just from mushroom picking,” he said. The Sheriff’s Office team, which is composed of volunteers and overseen by a sworn deputy, is part of a network called CORSAR that includes teams from across southern Oregon and northern California. In the event of a lengthy search, the Coos County team can call in other CORSAR members to help.
Mostly sunny 64/54 Weather | A8
SEE RESCUE | A8