For the second straight year, Hawai'i public school students in grades three and five have made encouraging gains on the state's standardized tests while those in the upper grades continued to struggle.

The percentage of eighth-graders who met or exceeded state standards remained essentially unchanged in math and was slightly down in reading from the previous year and 10th-graders were down slightly in both, according to results of the Hawai'i State Assessment released yesterday by the Department of Education.

At the same time, the percentage of 10th-graders well below state standards in reading worsened to nearly 15 percent from a low of nearly 9 percent two years ago. In math, 27 percent of 10th-graders were well below state standards. That's the highest percentage of 10th-graders well below standards in math since testing began four years ago.

The disappointing results in the upper grades prompted several members of the Board of Education to suggest that Hawai'i's standards, which are among the highest in the nation, be lowered to match those of other states.

Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto said while the upper-grade performance was disappointing, she was pleased with the scores in third and fifth grades.

"They show a steady growth trend that validates what we're doing in the classroom. It shows that what we're doing is working and solid," she said at the BOE meeting on Maui.

Every year since the tests began in 2002, Hawai'i's elementary students have outperformed upper-level students.

The results released yesterday show that all but the state's eighth-graders have improved in reading since the tests were first given in 2002, and every grade level has improved in math.

However, while the percentage of students in the lower grades meeting or exceeding state standards has improved by as much as 14 percentage points in reading over the past four years, students in the 10th grade managed an improvement of only 1 percentage point. Eighth-graders declined by 4 percentage points. In math, the improvement in the upper grades has been only 1 percentage point, compared with up to 7 percentage points in the lower grades.

Hamamoto said the department is concerned about the lack of improvement in the upper grades.

"While we appreciate and acknowledge the hard work by our teachers and administrators, we also recognize that we have more work to do to ensure that all of our students are performing at grade level and above," said Hamamoto.

The test scores help make up the yardstick by which school performance is measured. The most widely anticipated scores — for individual schools and a determination of whether they achieved sufficient progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Law — will not be tallied and released until later this month.

Yesterday's results alert the DOE about where it needs to focus added attention in the coming year and highlights the success of some of the interventions at the elementary school level.

At Pauoa Elementary, principal Gregg Lee sees his school's improved reading scores as a validation of its emphasis on reading. Third-graders saw a 13 percentage point jump in numbers of students meeting and exceeding the standards, and fifth-graders improved by 12 percentage points.

"It is amazing," Lee said.

"We're pleased with the work we've been doing," he said.

The 2005 Hawai'i State Assessment was given between March 1 and April 30 to more than 54,000 students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 to measure student mastery of the Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards. It also includes an abbreviated version of the Stanford Achievement Test, which compares Hawai'i students with national norms.

Although virtually all scores slipped in 2003, they rebounded in 2004 across all grades except for eighth-grade reading.

Among the more dramatic long-term improvements, the percentage of third-graders meeting or exceeding state standards in reading rose from 43 percent four years ago to 51 percent this year, while fifth-graders rose from 42 percent four years ago to 56 percent this year.

"We're very proud of what's happening in the elementary schools. ... We're really pleased," said Robert McClelland, director of the DOE's planning and evaluation office.

Meanwhile, the percentage of 10th-graders meeting or exceeding state standards in reading rose from 41 percent in 2002 to 42 percent this year, while eighth-graders slipped from 42 percent in 2002 to 38 percent this year.

In math, students in eighth grade saw a 1 percentage point improvement and those in 10th grade improved less than that.

"We're not seeing the kinds of improvements there we're seeing at the elementary schools, so we have to figure out what we can do at the middle schools to make some changes," McClelland said. "We'll be working very hard this year looking at our secondary schools. How do we challenge the kids better? How do we inspire them?"

Hamamoto said the elementary curriculum is more "foundational and clearly defined" and thus more easily measured for achievement, as opposed to the secondary curriculum, which is complex and requires more critical thinking and analysis by students.

Part of the problem, she said, is that the school system began pushing for greater standards in the 2001-2002 school year, so the older students don't have the benefit of full exposure to standards-based teaching.

But Hamamoto said she believes the successes can be broadened because there's a systemwide commitment, call to action, vision, set of goals and priorities that will help make it happen.

Standards-based teaching is starting to click with more teachers, she said, and detailed assessment data is allowing educators to track progress down to the individual, allowing them to meet targets for achievement.

"I'm looking for steady growth and consistency," she said of the future.

One of the most impressive achievements in the elementary schools was seeing how the third- grade class of 2003 — with 43 percent meeting or exceeding proficiency levels in reading then — has soared as the class reached fifth grade, with 56 percent meeting or exceeding proficiency now.

"It appears those kids are really enthused about learning," said McClelland. "Also it appears to be evidence there's a lot of sustained focus on the standards-based instruction in the elementary schools. They're really taking that to heart."

Improvement in math has been harder to come by, with 28 percent of third-graders meeting or exceeding state standards this year compared with 27 percent a year ago. For fifth-graders, the numbers are 25 percent this year compared with 23 percent a year ago.

"Although the improvement is not as good in math, you can see an upward movement," McClelland said.

To achieve even small gains, schools and students had to improve substantially this year because the NCLB targets in both reading and math jumped significantly — from 30 percent to 44 percent proficient in reading and from 10 percent to 28 percent proficient in math.

The targets will remain the same through 2007, when they will increase again, by another 18 percentage points in math and 14 percentage points in reading. The state has set its levels to rise every three years to give the schools a chance to catch and reach them.

"It gives our schools the same target to track in three years," McClelland said.

Many schools are already adopting new strategies to help get their kids up to grade level.

"Middle school kids are more oppositional and less willing to accept everything that's put before them," said Kealakehe Intermediate principal Don Merwin. "We have to be more creative in making curriculum more meaningful to kids."

Kealakehe is one of the schools teetering on the brink of state takeover under the strictest of federal No Child Left Behind Act sanctions, but Merwin is hopeful the gains in test scores will help the school avoid that fate.

Nevertheless, the school is already making the same changes under way at schools being "restructured" by private providers or the DOE.

The school has adopted the America's Choice reform model, and will focus on more proactive assessments, making instruction relevant and engaging and encouraging parents to play a more active role in the school.

McClelland thinks some of the disparity between the younger students and the older ones may have to do with how many attempt to complete all the problems on the tests. According to his statistics, 98 percent to 99 percent of the younger students try all the problems, while about 90 percent of the older students in past years have completed all the problems.

"If we can get the kids to attempt the items, we'd see an increase in the test scores," he said.