Our students improve test scores

It's back-to-school time, and that means the annual school reports of test scores. The state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction this week released data about whether schools in the state had made national improvement goals under the so-called "No Child Left Behind" Act, called Adequate Yearly Progress. From the report:

Schools are expected to make AYP in up to 37 different categories, and districts can have as many as 111 categories. Regardless of Title I status, schools and districts are identified for “needs improvement” status if they miss making AYP for two consecutive years in the same subject areas (e.g., math in 2004 and 2005). And until they make AYP in all their categories for two years in a row, schools and districts continue to be identified for improvement. Making it one year and then missing the next means a school or district maintains its improvement status and must restart the two-year cycle of making AYP.

Six Washington schools made AYP for the second consecutive year and moved off the improvement list. One is Columbia Elementary in Wenatchee, a school with high instances of student mobility and language barriers in a lower-income section of the city. School staff has worked hard to find creative solutions to help students learn more and to make up the necessary defecit of test scores.

Wenatchee High School, meanwhile, remains on Step 2 of School Improvement along with 80 other Washington schools. From the report:

Step 2, School Improvement (81 schools)
Title I schools that have reached Step 2 must continue to offer school choice and add the option for low-income students to receive tutoring services from an OSPI-approved supplemental service provider. Again, these options are only required to be offered by schools that receive Title I funds. The schools in Step 2 are there this year because they 1) made AYP in 2005 and must make it again in 2006 to exit; or 2) were in Step 1 in 2004 and again missed AYP in the same subject in 2005; or 3) missed AYP in a different subject than in 2004 and do not move to the next step.

While WHS remained on Step 2, there is reason for being pleased with some results. A year ago, the school missed AYP in four cells: Hispanic reading, Hispanic math, limited-English proficient reading and limited-English proficient math. This year, the school met AYP goals in three of those cells, missing in just one cell: Hispanic math.

Meanwhile, WestSide High School, the district's former alternative high school, now a fully accredited school with an alternative design, moved to Step 3 School Improvement, explained here from the report:

Step 3, School Improvement (10 schools)
At this point in school improvement, federal law expects districts to take a more direct role in addressing the academic struggles in a particular Title I building. School districts must take “corrective action”, and they can choose from a number of options focused most often on curriculum and instruction changes that will improve student learning at their Step 3 schools that receive Title I funds. These schools must continue to provide school choice options and supplemental services. Step 3 schools are there this year because they 1) made AYP in 2005 and must make it again in 2006 to exit; or 2) were in Step 2 in 2004 and again missed AYP in the same subject in 2005; or 3) missed AYP in a different subject than in 2004 and do not move to the next step.

The full report is available from the OSPI Web site.

Finally, The Seattle Times had a Sunday report about the notion of "value-added" test scores reporting. In some Seattle schools, the low test scores do not fully indicate the level of learning that took place among students at certain schools. These students, while still falling short of AYP goals, made up more than a year's learning in a year's time, a notable achievement that deserves recognition. The article also faults higher-achieving schools for allowing higher-achieving students to slide back because the school had focused on helping students with lower proficiency. These situations are important to the discussion in education reform and should not be ignired.

-- Issaquah, Wash.