Posted on: Friday, July 21, 2006

Assessing Hawai'i's students, school by school

Advertiser Staff

Last spring, 95,000 public school students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10 took the Hawai'i State Assessment to determine how well they were meeting the state's academic standards. It was the first year that scores from students in grades 4, 6 and 7 were incorporated into the statewide results. Unlike the Stanford Achievement Test, which is multiple choice, the Hawai'i State Assessment asks students to write out their answers and show how they solved math problems. The SAT measures how Hawai'i students compare with national norms. Schools can appeal the HSA results, which officials say will be finalized by Sept. 1. Until then, the results are considered preliminary.

STATEWIDE AVERAGES

These scores, released yesterday, give a broad overview of how Hawai'i students taking the state assessment performed. This year's test showed mixed results, with students in grades 4, 7 and 8 showing respectable gains, with a sizable drop in grade 5 and fairly stable scores in grades 3, 6 and 10. Students in grade 4 showed the best overall results, with the highest proficiency levels and with growth in reading and math.

SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL RESULTS

These scores, showing how individual schools fared on the 2006 battery of tests, are scheduled to be released in August.

ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS

Schoolwide scores on the Hawai'i State Assessment are used to determine whether schools met their targets under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, or made "adequate yearly progress." Results released yesterday show that 95 out of 282 schools, or 34 percent, made their goals. That's nearly the same percentage as last year.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Parents of public school students will receive individualized assessments of their children's strengths and challenges — and suggestions about how they can help — when the latest individual scores go home in the coming weeks, according to the Department of Education. As with all tests, experts advise that this is only one way to measure your child's performance. Parents also should consider teacher evaluations and day-to-day homework to determine how well their children are doing in school.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools are expected to make annual progress toward having every student proficient in core subjects by 2014.

The benchmarks ratchet higher every three years in Hawai'i, and the goal for schools is to reach the state proficiency targets — or make AYP, adequate yearly progress — on the Hawai'i State Assessment in reading and math, and meet other goals relating to test participation and promotion or graduation.

This year, for the second straight year, 28 percent of a school's students needed to meet math standards, and 44 percent of a school's students needed to meet reading standards, if the school was to meet its overall goals.

These levels will remain the same for one more year before they increase again.

This applies to all students, including subgroups defined by ethnicity, poverty levels, English proficiency or special education needs. If any of the 37 subgroups is deficient, the entire school is labeled as not achieving AYP. AYP results are used to determine a school's status under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

For schools that do not attain the benchmarks, the law specifies a six-year path to the most far-reaching remedies, which can include replacing the entire teaching staff and eliminating arts classes in favor of a more rigorous academic curriculum.

A school is subject to No Child Left Behind sanctions if it misses AYP for two consecutive years, and the sanctions increase if AYP is missed in subsequent years. Once under these sanctions, a school must achieve AYP for two consecutive years to be removed from status.