Posted on: Thursday, October 7, 2004

Education snapshot — 'Anuenue School

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

At 'Anuenue School, a Hawaiian immersion school where English language instruction is not introduced until the fifth grade, the English-based Hawai'i State

Assessment presents a special challenge in the third, fifth and eighth grades.

By the 10th grade, however, the standardized test more adequately represents student achievement, said principal Charles Naumu.

Last spring, 10th-graders saw a significant rise in their reading scores over the sophomores from the year before, with half meeting proficiency, up from 14.3 percent in 2003. Naumu called them "an outstanding class."

What made the difference: Because 'Anuenue has been identified as the school needing the most help in its complex, the district has made a special effort to help raise scores, Naumu said.

How they did it: With the help of school renewal specialist Glenn Miyasato, teachers have been trying to align their curriculum with the standards while still preserving the Hawaiian language.

Other factors: "The main increase was due to the quality of the students in that grade," said Naumu. Several students are in advanced placement classes and internship programs.

The school is still pushing to translate the test into Hawaiian to put 'Anuenue on equal footing with other schools, however.