IVHS views CIM/CAM abolition with mixed perspective
On Wednesday, April 18, the Oregon House of Representatives voted to pass House Bill 2263-A, which would abolish the Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) and Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM) from the state’s education standards.
CIM/CAM was established by the Legislature during 1991 as part of the 21st Century Schools Act, an education reform bill.
According to Illinois Valley High School Principal JoAnn Bethany, the school has never issued a single CAM certificate.
“We’re never awarded anybody CAM at this point,” Bethany said. “It was always so loosely defined and in transition at the state level that we as a district haven’t done a lot with that.”
Rep. Linda Flores (R-Clackamas) sponsored legislation during the 2003 and 2005 sessions to eliminate CIM/CAM. Flores’ proposal passed the Republican-controlled House in 2005, but did not pass the Senate. Flores, who chaired the House Education Committee during the 05 session, said that CIM/CAM was never widely used by Oregon schools or employers.
“I’m of the opinion that there were zero good reasons to have it around,” Flores said. “I heard from a lot of folks about concerns with problems with CIM/CAM. They felt it was a top-down driven, failed experiment that had lasted beyond its reasonable shelf life.”
Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass) said CIM/CAM “never lived up to its billing.”
“It was never accepted by the people that it was supposed to be impressing,” Maurer said. “CIM/CAM was a dinosaur. It was ill-conceived, in my opinion, and time passed it by.”
Prior attempts to eliminate CIM/CAM were met with strong resistance by Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo.
“She bitterly opposed them every time they have come forward,” Flores said.
During May 2005, Castillo expressed her support for keeping the CIM/CAM standards.
“I opposed this path to eliminating CIM and CAM because it is a destructive action that will result in instability and confusion, causing more harm than good for our students and schools,” Castillo said. However, during a Dec. 9, 2005 speech at the Portland City Club, Castillo stated that she had changed her mind on the issue.
In a press release last month, Castillo said that implementation of higher graduation standards helped make CIM/CAM unnecessary.
“The State Board of Education has passed a new set of high school graduation requirements, standards, assessments and credentials,” she said. “I firmly believe that the new diploma provides us with a better, more rigorous, more relevant system for student achievement.
“Because today’s world moves fast and demands a more ambitious approach to high school education, removing the CIM and CAM is a step forward. Oregon’s standards and assessments will continue, but we will do away with the confusion.”
However, IVHS long has encouraged students to participate in CIM.
“We’ve been making a big deal out of it,” Bethany said. “We try to look for ways to make it important and make it something that kids want to do.”
IVHS attaches an honors diploma to students who earn a CIM, and issues them purple tassels for the school’s graduation ceremony. A bulletin board hangs in the hallways throughout the entire school year, and features photos of CIM completers.
The school also has offered other incentives for students to participate in CIM.
“For a couple of years, we’ve done a drawing of old cars donated for kids who do the CIM completion,” Bethany said. “We’ve given away two cars.”
But as much as IVHS has encouraged CIM participation, Oregon universities have never made it an admissions requirement.
“I think it’s very telling that the university system and employers never adopted it as criteria to be listed on a job application or give consideration as far as entry to the university system,” Flores said. “Other schools in other state don’t look at it, either.”
Bethany said that there are currently 18 IVHS juniors who are CIM completers. The school is still encouraging students to earn that certification, and a CIM awards breakfast is scheduled for May 24 at the school.
“We’re still pushing forward as though it isn’t going to go away,” Bethany said. “We’re still working to get kids there.”
A public hearing on HB 2263-A was held on May 3. No subsequent action has been taken on the bill, which still sits in the Senate Education and General Government Committee.
However, Maurer said that HB 2263-A has a good chance of passing into law.
“I would assume that given the circumstances, with Superintendent Castillo now in support, that the bill will fly through the Senate and, of course, the governor will sign it,” Maurer said.
