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The Arizona Department of Education on Wednesday released the 2006 individual “report cards” on public and charter schools receiving state funds.
Overall, local schools had a positive showing.
The K-12 achievement profiles are designed to capture the performance level of every school, through six designations — from “Excelling” to “Failing” — in order to help parents, teachers and administrators understand how their district and its individual schools are living up to the state’s academic standards.
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Known as Arizona LEARNS, the criteria and evaluation for these school classifications have been in place, with some alterations, since 2002. The goal was to legislatively establish a research-based method to effectively measure school performance — and create annual accountability. These yearly report cards theoretically inspire schools to examine their strengths, weaknesses, and strive for improvement.
According to the Department of Education, the statewide results for 1,965 evaluated schools show that 90 percent are “Performing” or higher, with 320 listed as “Excelling.”
State schools Superintendent Tom Horne encouraged schools and parents to focus on the AZ LEARNS designations which he said is “a fair and accurate profile of the schools performance level, as opposed to federal standards, which contain a number of irrational elements and are not useful in evaluating schools.”
Sierra Vista public schools made a positive showing, with three elementary schools — Bella Vista, Carmichael, and Town & Country moving up from a “Performing” designation in 2005 to “Performing Plus.” Huachuca Mountain and Village Meadows retained their classification as “Performing Plus.” Pueblo del Sol Elementary continues its designation as “Highly Performing.”
Sierra Vista Middle School jumped a notch from 2005 to join Apache Middle School in the “Performing Plus” category, and Buena High School retained its “Highly Performing” classification.
Penny Morris, curriculum director for the Sierra Vista district, was pleased with the results.
“As teachers and administrators we’re always encouraging learning, always raising the bar. It’s good to see the results,” she said.
Morris would remind parents Arizona Learns and No Child Left Behind require greater gains every year to meet higher annual achievement objectives.
“The grade is a little greater,” she said, adding Sierra Vista schools employ tutoring, mentoring and continuous staff development on the latest learning methods.
In Bisbee, the report cards were good as well. Greenway School moved up into 2006 as “Highly Performing” from “Performing Plus,” and Bisbee High improved from “Performing” to “Performing Plus.” Lowell School kept its designation as “Performing Plus.” Grades in Tombstone were somewhat mixed, with the high school showing improvement from “Performing” to “Performing Plus,” and Walter J. Meyer school standing pat as “Performing.” The Huachuca City School fell from “Performing” to the “Underperforming” classification.
Tombstone school Superintendent Ron Hennings said, “We’re pleased with what we see at the high school, since it’s hard to move up. Our students at Huachuca City have experienced an 80 percent changeover in staff, and it’s been hardest on the seventh and eighth graders. And many of the kids have parents in the military who are deployed overseas. It’s stressful. “We don’t disagree with the state ratings, but the high turnover was tough. We have a good cadre of teachers in place now.”
The three Accommodation Schools on Fort Huachuca showed the Gen. Myer School continuing as a “Highly Performing” school, Col. Smith Middle School continuing as “Excelling,” and the Col. Johnston School dropping from its 2005 classification as “Highly Performing” to “Performing.”
In the Palominas district, Palominas Elementary remained at “Performing Plus,” while Valley View Elementary remained at “Highly Performing.” Coronado “fell” from “Excelling” to “Highly Performing.”
School report card definitions:
Excelling — Meets or exceeds state performance and state progress goals and has the requisite percentage of students “Exceeding the Standard” on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) over the past three years.
Highly Performing — Meets or exceeds state performance and state progress goals and has met the performance threshold required with a certain percentage of their students “Exceeding the Standard” on the AIMS test over the past three years.
Performing Plus — An informal recognition of schools that have shows improvement or have sufficient students demonstrating proficiency to earn a Highly Performing or Excelling profile, but do not have a sufficient number of students exceeding the standard.
Performing — Meets state performance goals, and meets state progress goals.
Underperforming — Needs to meet state performance and state progress goals.
Failing — Performance designated as Underperforming for three consecutive years; a solutions team or professionals is assigned and students are to have access to alternative tutoring programs by certified providers.
Herald/Review reporter Cindy Skalsky can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at cindy.skalsky@svherald.com.
Joe Hicks wrote on Oct 8, 2007 2:22 PM: