High schools struggle with testing

Most Flathead elementary schools meet standards

Nearly all public elementary schools in Flathead County met federal standards in reading and math this year, while most high schools failed to meet the benchmarks.

According to data released Friday by the state Office of Public Instruction, six of the Flathead's 19 elementary-school districts failed to meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress standard, the benchmarks established by the No Child Left Behind Act. Three of the county's four high-school districts did not meet the standard.

Statewide, 72 percent of Montana's schools (589 of 824) and 68 percent of the state's school districts (286 of 421) met the progress standards, state Superintendent of Schools Linda McCulloch said. Last year, 90 percent of schools and 85 percent of school districts met the benchmarks.

The benchmarks are based on reading and math tests given each spring to third- through eighth-graders and sophomores. Every three years the standards are raised; this year the math proficiency target increased by 17 percent, and the reading target increased by 9 percent.

Those targets will continue to rise until the 2013-2014 school year, when 100 percent of students are supposed to score at least "proficient" on the exam - a goal many educators have dismissed as admirable but unattainable.

"It's like saying to the NBA, 'In 2014, you're going to make every shot,'" Columbia Falls Superintendent Michael Nicosia said. "It's not going to happen."

That doesn't mean schools aren't doing well or that they aren't striving for improvement, he added.

"All the schools in the valley, and all these schools in the state, are doing a really good job," he said. "We are preparing kids for an uncertain future by giving them the skills they need."

Schools teach students skills such as problem solving and creative thinking, which aren't necessarily demonstrated in a fill-in-the-bubble test, he said.

Columbia Falls' elementary and high-school districts did not meet the benchmarks this year. It's the third consecutive year the elementary district hasn't met the federal standards, and the second-straight year the high-school district has failed to meet them.

Those results don't reflect the quality of Columbia Falls' schools, Nicosia said.

"I think we had a really good year. Our students did a really good job," he said. "Our responsibility is to prepare our students for the future, and we will continue to do that."

One of the district's elementary schools, Canyon School in Hungry Horse, met the federal benchmarks. This is in part because Canyon opted to use the small-schools process, which is intended for schools too small to be analyzed by the regular Adequate Yearly Progress process.

THE REGULAR process divides school populations into 10 subgroups, including race, ethnicity, economically disadvantaged students, students with limited English proficiency and students with disabilities. Each subgroup, which has a minimum of 30 students, must meet the federal benchmarks in reading, math, test-day participation, attendance and graduation rates.

If even one group fails, the entire school doesn't meet the benchmarks.

There were more subgroups this year than ever before; McCulloch said earlier this month that there were "41 ways for schools to fail." There will be 50 subgroups in 2009.

Small schools aren't accountable for as many subgroups and are allowed to take additional factors into account instead of relying on one test score. The eight Flathead County schools that used the small schools process all met the requirements.

The small-schools process would be a more accurate way to evaluate Montana schools' success, McCulloch said in an interview earlier this month.

The results can be misleading, she said.

"Kids are still improving," she said. "They're not sliding backward."

That is true even in districts that did not meet the benchmarks. Kalispell's high-school district did not achieve the federal goals this year. It's the second consecutive year the district has failed to meet reading standards and the first year it hasn't met the math standards.

"We're working real hard to improve the student achievement levels of our kids," Assistant Superintendent Dan Zorn said.

Adequate Yearly Progress results aren't unimportant, but the district takes other factors into consideration when determining student achievement, he said.

"We feel relatively good about our student achievement levels," he said. "We also realize we have a lot of work to do.

"We're continually trying to improve the delivery of what we provide our kids," he added. "In some areas, we're doing better than others. We're trying to figure out how to meet the needs of our kids, particularly the needs of kids who have special needs."

Most special-needs students - one of the subgroups - are tested to the same standard as other students, McCulloch said earlier this month. Only 1 percent of students, those with the most serious disabilities, are tested to a lesser standard of performance.

"There are kids in special education who might not ever, no matter how hard they try, be proficient," she said. "But they can be productive and can do other things. That's what's important."

No Child Left Behind doesn't reward schools when students get out of special-education programs, she added.

"You just can't win with it," she said.

Schools that fail to meet the federal requirements for one year are put on a "watch list" and are required to notify parents and review their five-year school plans. Schools on the watch list can get off the list the following year by meeting federal requirements.

Schools that fail to meet the requirements for two or more consecutive years face stricter sanctions. When possible, they're required to give parents the option of moving their children to another school. They also must implement teacher mentoring programs and spend 10 percent of federal funding on teacher training.

Those schools must meet federal requirements for two consecutive years to be removed from the watch list.

Local schools that didn't meet federal standards are:

. Cayuse Prairie elementary students met the benchmarks, but its seventh- and eighth-graders failed to make proficiency in math. It's the first time the school hasn't met the standards.

. Columbia Falls elementary, intermediate (seventh- and eighth-graders) and high-school students did not make proficiency in math or reading. It's the first year the district's seventh- and eighth-grade students haven't met the federal standards.

. Evergreen elementary students failed to make proficiency in reading or math for the first time. Fifth- through eighth-grade students met the standards.

. Helena Flats elementary students did not make proficiency in math - the first year the school has appeared on the watch list. The school's intermediate students met the standards.

. Neither Flathead nor Glacier high school made proficiency in reading or math. It's the first year the district failed to meet the math standards. The district will hold a forum about the standards at 6 p.m. Sept. 2 in the Flathead High School conference room.

. Kila elementary students did not make proficiency in reading or math for the first time. The intermediate students, who were evaluated according to the small-schools process, met the standards.

. Smith Valley School failed to meet the standards for the first time. Its elementary students did not meet the standard in math; its intermediate students failed to meet the attendance requirement.

. The Whitefish high-school district didn't meet math proficiency for the first time. It's the first year the district has failed to meet the benchmarks.

Complete results are available at www.opi.mt.gov/AYP

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com