District 5 makes academic progress

Despite challenges presented by No Child Left Behind, every school in District 5 met the education act's Adequate Yearly Progress standards this year.

It's an improvement over last year, and an affirmation of the changes Kalispell school administrators and teachers made in how they used instruction time during 2004-05.

"It comes from a different process," Assistant Superintendent Dan Zorn said. "It's not dependent on a single test score. It's a more holistic way to look at achievement."

The Montana Office of Public Instruction calls it the Small Schools Process. It was pioneered in the state's tiniest rural schools, but last year was implemented in all districts.

By combining several ways to gauge learning, Zorn said, the school gets a more comprehensive and effective method for measuring progress for that all-important federal report.

He pointed to three assessments Kalispell schools use now:

-Criterion-Referenced Testing, which tests students on whether they know information and demonstrate skills that the state says are needed to be proficient in a given area, one factor in Adequate Yearly Progress;

-Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, which compare the district to norms in the rest of the nation; and

-Measure of Academic Progress, which tracks whether individual students meet targets set for their growth from the beginning to the end of the school year.

Results showed Kalispell generally on the academic upswing.

"For the most part," Zorn said, "we are pretty pleased by what we see there."

Fourth-graders showed "tremendous gain" in math and reading on the Criterion-Referenced Testing, Zorn said, jumping from 36 percent to 60 percent proficient in math and from 58 percent to 73 percent in reading.

Eighth-graders did well in reading, moving up from 56 percent to 68 percent. Their math scores, as well as reading and math for sophomores, were essentially flat.

Interestingly, fourth-grade gains still left them 2 percent behind the state average in reading. In every other area, though, all three grades surpassed the state averages by at least 4 percent - 13 percent in sophomore math.

Iowa Tests results were Kalispell's highest in the last 10 years.

Fourth-graders were no less than the 71st percentile in every area on Iowa Tests (with national average defined at the 50th percentile), and improved by at least 5 percent over last year.

Sixth-graders were at or above the 69th percentile on every area, and improved in all but reading, where they dropped by 2 percent.

Eighth-graders, on the other hand, were down in every area except social studies, where they increased 2 percent. They were above the national norm, scoring between the 58th and 66th percentile.

Juniors were up slightly in every area but language, where they dropped a point. Their performance ranged from the 61st to the 72nd percentile.

But of all the performances, third-graders' improvement in math under the Measure of Academic Progress was the most striking. The district nearly doubled the number of students meeting the math targets - from 37 percent in 2003-2004 up to 72 percent last year.

In fact, third- through sixth-graders consistently showed improvement in math, reading and language - some more marked than others - except for a three-point drop in sixth-grade reading.

Why the good scores?

Basically, it was a district-wide commitment to change last year's performance that paid off.

In the elementary schools, Zorn said, teachers were focused on essential skills and spent more instructional time on reading and math. The district also used more rigorous math materials and asked each teacher to focus on statewide reading standards.

While continuing the focus, the district also wants to improve on weak areas.

Teachers target their instruction to meet each child's identified needs, called "differentiated instruction." Also, Zorn said the district is looking at beefed-up reading materials for fourth- through sixth-graders.

For older students, a remedial reading program is being implemented this year for seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders.

"We're going to identify the non-proficient kids and give them daily help," Zorn said.

For the mediocre scores in eighth grade, the school expects a middle-school team-teaching concept to be successful. The first team started this year, with another to be added next year and

probably a full staffing when the building redesign opens in fall 2007. That will depend on funding.

District-wide, each building is relying on an assessment leadership team of teachers and the building principal. The team helps its peers use test data to pinpoint areas of weakness and strength, then focus classroom time accordingly.

The district also is continuing its focus on the Safe and Civil Schools program, guarding physical security of the buildings while teaching students about acceptable behavior.

"The kids will learn better," Zorn said, "and that leads to greater student achievement."

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