Schools’ test scores improve

Del Norte County students have made significant progress on state standards tests but are still not meeting federal requirements for academic achievement.

Redwood Elementary School met the target score of 800 on California’s Academic Performance Index and several other local schools are on the brink of reaching that goal, according to data released Tuesday by the California Department of Education.

The index is a growth model for schools based on the California Standards Tests and California High School Exit Exam taken each spring.

“It’s to make sure schools are moving students towards proficiency,” explained Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Don Olson.

Schools are given a number between 200 and 1,000 and are expected to grow each year.

Del Norte County Unified School District overall scored 732, 14 points over last year. By comparison, the state scored 755 on the index.

Growing year by year

Redwood Elementary has achieved a major milestone for the district as the first school to reach 800, Olson said.

Minority students, English learners, those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and those with disabilities also made double-digit gains on the state Academic Performance Index.

“The idea is to continually grow,” Olson said.

The reason students are performing better on state standards tests is targeted instruction, he said: Teachers are looking at each student’s score and giving extra help where it’s needed. In addition, benchmark tests are helping teachers identify problems before students take the standards tests each spring.

“Every school is working hard,” Olson said.

Figuring out where to improve

There are a few negatives for the school district: Del Norte High School actually fell by six points and Mountain Elementary School fell by 49 points, but both still have scores over 700.

At the alternative education level, Castle Rock Charter School improved slightly from the 2007-2008 school year, but Uncharted Shores Academy fell by 68 points.

While a dependent charter school  has autonomy over how students are educated, Olson said the school district has the ability to make sure charter schools have aligned their curriculum to state standards, which is being done at Uncharted Shores.

Because Mountain School in Gasquet is very small, Olson explained, a few students can move the school significantly up or down the scale.

At the high school, some students  have “test apathy,” Olson said.

“This is not a true reflection of Del Norte High School,” he said, “Some don’t always put their best effort forward.”

But to combat apathy and help those who are struggling, DNHS is working on benchmark tests for each subject and how to best help the teenagers.

“The high school is working on a model that will fit for them,” Olson said.

“We have to define what we want them to do and how to know if they know it,” he continued, “what to do if they do and what to do if they don’t.”

Moving target

In addition to staying on target with California’s expectations of academic growth each year, schools have to keep up with the federal government’s rising benchmarks.

School districts that receive federal Title I funding must comply with the No Child Left Behind Act, which has a goal for all students to score Proficient or above on standards tests set by each state.

Del Norte County Unified School District receives about $1.3 million in Title I funding.

The Adequate Yearly Progress determines whether schools or the district as a whole have met No Child Left Behind’s goals.

“It’s not a growth model,” Olson said; rather, it’s “federal accountability.”

For the 2008-2009 school year, about 45 percent of students were expected to score Proficient or above on English language arts and math standards tests or the high school exit exam. The benchmark increases by 10 percent each year with the ultimate goal being 100 percent.

As  a whole, 45 percent of students in the local school district scored Proficient or above on the required tests.

However, students in several demographic subgroups, including English learners, also must reach that 45 percent threshold or the district won’t meet its requirement.

In the local school district’s case, English learners and Asian students struggled in both language arts and math. The state also didn’t meet the federal benchmark.

“We have to focus on the subgroups,” Olson said.

Some local schools successfully reached this benchmark, but some didn’t. If this happens two years in a row the school enters “program improvement” status and is given additional funding to help students.

With the release of the recent data, Redwood and Smith River Elementary schools are now in program improvement, even though those schools showed improvement over the last year.

Joe Hamilton Elementary School has been in program improvement for a year and was unable to come out it, but did show improvement.

Federal requirements will continue to get more difficult to meet as each year passes until 100 percent of students must score high marks by 2014, a goal that seems unrealistic, Olson said.

“We would love to do that,” he said. “But realistically it’s not going to happen.”