State Statistics show school shortcomings

State Statistics show school shortcomings

Zach White

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The Havre Public School District released its 2010 Adequate Yearly Progress report at the School Board meeting on Tuesday night and progress has remained largely the same. Unfortunately for the district, the current status is not where the state's standards need them to be.

According to the report from the Montana Office of Public Instruction, none of the Havre Public Schools scores on the state's Criterion Reference Tests met the requirement.

Superintendent Andy Carlson and Assistant Superintendent Tom Korst helped translate the 20 page OPI report.

The tests, with reading and math portions, are mostly multiple choice, with a constructed response essay question.

The state test's reading requirement was an 83 percent pass rate. The Havre district scored 80 percent.

The math test's requirement was 68 percent. Havre schools scored 62 percent.

The CRTs, also called the Montana Comprehensive Assessment System (MontCAS) Phase II tests, were created by the state legislature to replace the prior standard, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, which was Phase I.

The current tests are used for Montana to comply with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Grades 3 to 8 and 10 take the test. The results are divided between 41 smaller groups, broken up by factors like gender, race and economic status. If any one of the small groups fail to meet the requirement, the whole school is said not to have made Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.

None of the Havre Public Schools have made AYP in the past three years.

As a result Havre High, Highland Park and Lincoln-McKinley were identified as needing improvement.

Havre Middle and Sunnyside were marked for Corrective Action.

The action, among many curriculum development teams, parent involvement initiatives and classroom assessments, includes a requirement of the district to spend at least 10 percent of its "Title I Part A" school funds towards the professional development of faculty.

Tom Korst said that these results need to be taken seriously.

"Gaining proficiency scores may have been a personal preference," Korst said, "but in 2014 it will become a legal, No Child Left Behind, problem."

Andy Carlson said engaging the community is a vital step in bringing up these scores and getting the district to start making Adequate Yearly Progress.

"It's so important to tell parents what we are teaching children," Carlson said, "The classroom teacher needs to be able to talk to the parents about what is being taught and how it's being measured."

The Havre Public School District released its 2010 Adequate Yearly Progress report at the School Board meeting on Tuesday night and progress has remained largely the same. Unfortunately for the district, the current status is not where the state's standards need them to be.

According to the report from the Montana Office of Public Instruction, none of the Havre Public Schools scores on the state's Criterion Reference Tests met the requirement.

Superintendent Andy Carlson and Assistant Superintendent Tom Korst helped translate the 20 page OPI report.

The tests, with reading and math portions, are mostly multiple choice, with a constructed response essay question.

The state test's reading requirement was an 83 percent pass rate. The Havre district scored 80 percent.

The math test's requirement was 68 percent. Havre schools scored 62 percent.

The CRTs, also called the Montana Comprehensive Assessment System (MontCAS) Phase II tests, were created by the state legislature to replace the prior standard, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, which was Phase I.

The current tests are used for Montana to comply with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Grades 3 to 8 and 10 take the test. The results are divided between 41 smaller groups, broken up by factors like gender, race and economic status. If any one of the small groups fail to meet the requirement, the whole school is said not to have made Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.

None of the Havre Public Schools have made AYP in the past three years.

As a result Havre High, Highland Park and Lincoln-McKinley were identified as needing improvement.

Havre Middle and Sunnyside were marked for Corrective Action.

The action, among many curriculum development teams, parent involvement initiatives and classroom assessments, includes a requirement of the district to spend at least 10 percent of its "Title I Part A" school funds towards the professional development of faculty.

Tom Korst said that these results need to be taken seriously.

"Gaining proficiency scores may have been a personal preference," Korst said, "but in 2014 it will become a legal, No Child Left Behind, problem."

Andy Carlson said engaging the community is a vital step in bringing up these scores and getting the district to start making Adequate Yearly Progress.

"It's so important to tell parents what we are teaching children," Carlson said, "The classroom teacher needs to be able to talk to the parents about what is being taught and how it's being measured."