Kalispell analyzes school shortfalls

A recent report on schools meeting new federal standards for Adequate Yearly Progress found that Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Bigfork, East Evergreen and Deer Park come up short in at least one area.

As a result, the schools are taking steps to meet No Child Left Behind mandates.

In Kalispell, Assistant Superintendent Dan Zorn said administrators are addressing their three areas of concern identified in the yearly progress report - high school graduation rate, fourth-graders' math scores at Hedges School, and the combined fourth- and eighth-graders' reading scores across the district for low-income children.

. The state Office of Public Instruction reported that Flathead High School District is in the first year of not meeting yearly progress because of its graduation rate. That first-year stage requires the district only to make adjustments in its five-year plan.

(Every district is required to file a five-year plan under No Child Left Behind, laying out its goals and showing steps it is taking to continually improve student learning.)

State standards say a high school must meet an 80 percent graduation rate. Flathead High's rate, according to state figures, is 79 percent.

The district and OPI, however, still are wrangling over that number.

"We're arguing over five kids," Zorn said, which the district contends should not be included in the state's count.

Graduation rate is a calculation comparing the number of freshmen who start attending here compared with the number who eventually graduate.

It gives credit for those who request records for a transfer to another school, but subtracts for those who leave without evidence of enrolling elsewhere. It also factors in a 4 percent to 5 percent dropout rate, Zorn said, and certain students who take an extra semester to graduate.

. The second count, which finds Hedges fourth-graders deficient in math for the first time this year, also requires only an adjustment in the five-year plan.

State standards, endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education, say that 40 percent of the group must prove they are proficient in math, as measured by standardized test scores. Hedges fourth-graders fall a couple percentage points below that, Zorn said.

He finds that odd, though, because those same students are among the highest achievers in their reading scores. But he said he might have one explanation.

"The score required in fourth-grade math is significantly higher than the reading score," for fourth-graders, he said, "or the reading and math score in eighth and 10th grades."

. In the third area - reading scores for low-income fourth- and eighth-graders - the elementary district fell 1 percent short of the 55 percent minimum standard.

This is the second consecutive year the district has not met yearly progress in this area, so the state is mailing letters to each home explaining the shortfall and what the school is doing to correct the deficiency.

As with the first two, the school also must adjust its five-year plan.

Why does proficiency for low-income students stand out?

"Poverty kids just plain struggle, at home and in school," Zorn said. What they lack affects everything in their lives, but the school is honing in on how to overcome some of those issues. "We can make inroads with our kids in poverty."

In-service training for teachers this year is targeting teacher awareness of issues involved in educating low-income students, Zorn said.

"We're trying to change the way teachers see and think," he said, "to explain things they have never understood."

The school analyzed data "in as many ways as we can to see how they grew in one year," he said. They scrutinized math scores in third, fifth and seventh grades. They looked at time spent on writing in grades 6-8 and 10.

And increasing student-teacher contact time this year has been a big initiative. Fourth- and fifth-graders had 30 minutes of class time added to their day, while the rest of the K-6 population had just 15 minutes added.

The school board made the schedule change last fall after a question was raised about the elementary schools falling short of the state's requirements for student instruction time each day.

It did help meet state standards, but it also resulted in giving the teachers more time to focus directly on math and reading lessons and one-on-one work with the students.

Zorn said they also are looking at other areas - making sure field trips are directly tied to curricular goals, for example.

"There's a lot of pressure on us for results," he said.

Testing is being adjusted for relevance and results, with educators taking a hard look at whether the traditional Iowa Tests of Basic Skills are serving the purpose.

Montana's relatively new Criterion Referenced Testing, first used last year and being administered again this March, is gaining favor instead. Math questions are presented largely in story form to evaluate comprehension and calculation skills, and reading skills infuse all phases.

"If our kids do well on this test, they're doing well," Zorn said. "It really does challenge kids to think."

Zorn said the advantage of the Criterion Referenced Testing, with criteria directly linked to state accreditation standards, is that it sets a hard and fast line of what each student must know and achieve at each grade level.

When results are evaluated, they also give the feedback needed to change curriculum and instruction in the classroom.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com