DOE teams part of plan to raise test scores
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i public schools that consistently fail to meet standardized test goals will receive individualized attention from the Department of Education and outside experts, under a new plan unveiled yesterday.
The department's "Framework for School Improvement" was presented to the Board of Education's Committee of the Whole on Regular Education. The plan calls for special resources to be directed at schools that did not meet "adequate yearly progress," or AYP, a measure of standardized test performance required under the federal No Child Left Behind Law.
The first assessment of Hawai'i's public schools under the federal law showed that 64 percent, or 180 or 280 schools, failed to meet the academic standards set by the state and approved by federal education officials. Forty-six schools were considered to be chronic in missing AYP.
Under the law, schools that miss AYP for at least five years must restructure. That could include replacing all or most of the staff, converting to a charter school, or assigning school operations to a state or private organization.
The DOE's "Framework for School Improvement" outlines a system for taking corrective action and restructuring a school. The plan calls for data to be gathered from each school to identify its problems.
Once the problem is determined, schools will be placed in one of three categories depending on the severity of the problem. The assistance can range from oversight by a "critical ally team," which will help schools assess and prioritize areas needing improvements, to assigning a "state intervention team" and hiring of an auditor.
The intervention team would make recommendations for corrective actions and assist in the audit.
Assistant Superintendent Kathy Kawaguchi said the goal is to provide the resources to help the schools that are failing, not to punish them. Most of the schools are in high-poverty areas.
"It's of no purpose to keep beating them," Kawaguchi said.
Kawaguchi added that schools should not be overly concerned if they are targeted for restructuring because that could include reassigning teachers without overhauling the staff.
"Simply changing the people without providing them the skills and knowledge" isn't the answer, Kawaguchi said. "In many other states when they simply walked in and done that, they thought that it's only the people. But you have to look at the entire school and its community."
Kawaguchi would not put a price tag on the program.
No Child Left Behind requires all public schools to show progress in reading and math every year. Also, every demographic and racial subgroup at each school must show progress in both subjects or the entire school will fail to meet the federal requirements.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com
