More Hawai‘i schools than ever succeeded on last year’s Stanford Achievement Test, and Department of Education officials suggest that indicates a turnaround for the struggling system.
The department yesterday released its "honor roll" for the 2000 test, which includes those schools with at least 77 percent of their students scoring average or above in both math and reading.
The number of schools on the honor roll increased over last year, with substantial gains across the board. The largest gain was in Grade 3, where 64 percent of the schools made the list, compared with 35 percent for the 1999 test.
"It is a different test, and it was given to different grades, so you may have to take that into account," said department spokesman Greg Knudsen. "But no matter which way you look at it, the test scores are improving."
Statewide results released in October also showed student performance improving at all grade levels. Hawai‘i exceeded the national average in elementary reading and elementary and secondary math.
"There is a sense that schools in Hawai‘i don’t do well on standardized tests," Knudsen said. "I think it’s time to take a look at these numbers and realize that’s no longer the case."
This spring students will take a new Hawai‘i-based test that will incorporate segments of the Stanford test. The new test is part of the department’s standards initiative, which aims to boost student performance.
School-by-school results will be released this month.
