Dr. Mary Gervase is the assistant superintendent of the Blaine County School District.
The Idaho State Department of Education has just released their rankings of spring 2006 test results based on how students performed on the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), and the results once again accentuate that Blaine County School District (BCSD) continues to serve its students well. School district officials found that the majority of their students are meeting or exceeding state standards. Test results indicate that 87 percent of BCSD students met reading proficiency compared to 84 percent of students statewide. Eighty-five percent of BCSD students met mathematics proficiency compared to 83 percent of students statewide.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires that test results be reported separately for all groups in the school, and that each sub-group is expected to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals as set by the state. Achieving AYP can be a tough challenge. Each school has about 42 different sub-groups, all of whom must meet AYP. If a school is in alert status for one subject area two years in a row, the entire school fails to make adequate yearly progress and is labeled as needing improvement. This also applies to the school district as a whole. Blaine County School District is in year one of "needs improvement" status. Wood River High School is in year one of "needs improvement" status, and Hailey Elementary is in year two of "needs improvement" status.
Even though we continue to be one of the highest performing school districts in the state, we have identified areas to improve through our testing program. The school district as a whole is considered in year one of "needs improvement" status based on insufficient progress being made by Hispanic, limited English, economically disadvantaged and special education students district-wide.
Two consecutive years of successful/improved testing are required to move a school out of the school improvement category. Hailey Elementary improved the reading scores of students in the two disaggregated groups (Hispanic and economically disadvantaged) where it was low last year. Insufficient progress was made by one small, disaggregated group (limited English students) in the area of reading. As few as three additional proficient students in this subgroup could have begun the schools movement out of needs improvement status.
Wood River High School received a "needs improvement" rating in one disaggregated group (economically disadvantaged reading). Two additional proficient students (in language usage) in this subgroup would have kept the school out of "needs improvement" status.
Wood River High School is on alert status for graduation rate, Hispanic math and economically disadvantaged math. The district as a whole is also on alert status for graduation rate. Our rate was 83.41 percent for 2004-2005 compared to 84.81 percent the previous year.
One of our major concerns about NCLB is that it focuses on whether schools and their subgroups met a specified proficiency quota. There is no "credit" or recognition for individual student improvement or growth. It is analogous to telling our students that they all need to be 5'3" by the end of fifth grade, and anyone not reaching that height is in need of improvement. It doesn't matter if some students grew a foot in 9 months, or some students were already 5'6". The same expectation is applied to all fifth-grade students, whether it is realistic or not.
While BCSD is addressing the sub groups not meeting AYP, we will continue our focus on ensuring each individual student's growth. In reading, 49 percent of BCSD students who were not proficient spring of 2005 raised their scores to proficient or better this spring. The figures for math and language usage are lower, but still impressive. In math, 46 percent of BCSD non-proficient students raised their scores to proficient or better this spring. In language, the figure was 40 percent. The state has not set goals for actual student improvement. However, we believe this is the type of progress that assures the public that we are doing a good job educating their children. We will continue to update our patrons on status of progress and programs.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires that parents be notified when any disaggregated subgroups of students in their schools are not making adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years or more. BCSD will be sending letters to Hailey Elementary School and Wood River High School parents notifying them of the above subgroups not making adequate yearly progress. Parents have the option to transfer their children to another school in the district providing there is room. School officials expect a minimal response to this option. The district is already an open enrollment district, enabling parents to transfer their students as it is.
Most importantly, Blaine County School District staff are committed to providing educational excellence for all of our students. We have rolled up our sleeves and are off and running to make the 2006-2007 school year the most meaningful year ever for your children.
We are changing the world, one student at a time.
