Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home schools finished above the state averages in five tests, but Sweet Home High School finished below average in three tests there in the 2002-03 school year.
One area was the same as the state average. The high school had one score meet state average. The numbers were released last week along with a report based on the federal No Child Left Behind Act, in which the high school did not meet standards, meaning the district did not meet standard either.
The third grade had 83 percent meet state benchmarks in reading compared to an 83 percent state average. In math, the third grade was at 84 percent compared to 78 percent statewide.
In grade five, 77 percent met benchmarks in reading and 78 percent met benchmarks in math. Statewide, 76 percent met the standard in both tests.
Seventy percent of the eighth grade met the standards in reading and math while 60 percent and 59 percent met them respectively at the state level.
All of the scores were improvements on last year except two, third-grade reading and fifth-grade reading.
The high school finished at 37 percent in reading compared to a state average 52 percent. That was a drop of 12 points from the year prior. In math, the percentage meeting standard decreased five points to 39 percent, which equaled the state average.
In problem solving, SHHS dropped 14 points to 46 percent. The state was at 50 percent. In writing, 70 percent met standards, a decrease of nine percent. The state was at 78 percent.
The high school also dropped 24 points in science to 42. There was no state average reported.
At the high school, Principal Pat Stineff is planning to meet with department heads to figure out why the school lost so much ground, whether it is an anomaly or the beginning of a trend.
“Some classes, as a group, are better than others,” Supt. Larry Horton said. “What I look over are trends over time, which are a lot more indicative of what’s going on.”
“You’re comparing apples to cumquats,” Stineff said. Every class is different. A better comparison is to look at a class’s eighth-grade scores and compare them to the 10th grade.
“Then you get a truer picture of how a class is doing,” Stinef said.
The high school has shown consistent growth in recent years, Supt. Horton said. The question is whether this is a one-time decrease.
“At this point, I am concerned but not worried,” Supt. Horton said. If it continued, then the district does have a problem.
One of the problems with the 10th-grade benchmark is that it is not required to graduate, Stineff said. “Tenth graders want to know what happens to me if I don’t get a CIM (certificate of initial mastery).”
For some, earning the CIM is a matter of pride or required for an honors diploma, but for others, it isn’t important, Stineff said, but it getting harder to get into college without it.
“We’re still not where we want to be,” Stineff said. “This year, we’re going to take a hard look at the test scores.”
On No Child Left Behind, “it makes us look bad even though no high school around here passed,” Stineff said. “It makes me feel bad because I know the teachers are trying. It also tells us we need to take a real hard look at our curriculum and make changes and do it better.”
There is always room for improvement, Stineff said.
“The other schools, I couldn’t be more proud of,” Supt. Horton said. “They’re consistently showing improvement.”
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, “the district failed to make adequate yearly progress,” Supt. Horton said. Districts are judged based on 60 different types of students or “cells.” Of those, the district did not meet standards among special education students at the high school.
The district is required this year to have 40 percent of each type of student meet state standards.
Almost 17 percent of students in the district are in special education, Supt. Horton said, and the state standards they are supposed to meet are “global standards.”
“In my own mind, that’s an unreasonable expectation,” Supt. Horton said. “We have 28 trainable mentally retarded children who are supposed to meet those standards. My question is how are we supposed to do that?”
By 2014, the act will require all students to meet their state’s standards, Supt. Horton said. “I don’t see how any district in this nation can achieve that. Students with severe special needs will never meet the standard that No Child Left Behind requires they meet. Again, I’m not making excuses. I’m just trying to be realistic.
“The goal I want my staff shooting for is that 100 percent of our students are meeting their maximum potential.”
That’s more realistic and more than likely the real intent of the act, Supt. Horton said. “If that isn’t the intent of No Child Left Behind, it should be.”
Few high schools throughout the state met the No Child Left Behind Act requirements.
The federal act also governs teacher qualifications. Of 124 teachers, only two do not meet the federal standard. One is teaching in an off assignment and one is teaching junior high while certified for high school. Both will meet the standard in the next year. Classroom assistants are also required to have associate’s degrees or pass a test. The district will help the assistants meet the requirement.