Ronan school works to meet, beat 'No Child' criteria

By Ethan Smith - Leader Staff

When school superintendents look at No Child Left Behind criteria, the words "numbers game" often come to mind. Just a few students can shape the results for an entire district.

And that's exactly what happened in Ronan this year. Overall, the district's NCLB results were positive. But the entire elementary district — K. William Harvey, Pablo Elementary and Ronan Middle School — was labeled as not making "adequate yearly progress" because of two percentage points.

It's a frustration that school administrators around the country have confronted time and again, while President Bush continues to emphasize the benefits of NCLB, the landmark educational standards he introduced during his first term. Under those standards, school districts are held to higher education standards each year for their students, culminating with an expected 100 percent proficiency rate in math, science and reading.

Whether a district or school meets adequate yearly progress (AYP) is determined by scores from criterion reference tests given to third, eighth and 10th graders throughout the state, in math, reading and eventually science. Schools are also evaluated on testing participation, attendance and graduation rates, and if any one sub group of students — categorized by sex, race and other factors — fails, then the district is labeled as not making AYP.

While K. William Harvey students easily beat the requirements in most testing categories, they missed the reading proficiency standard by two percentage points, the only school to not make AYP in the county.

"This is the first year for our students to not make it (AYP) at K. William Harvey. We missed the [reading proficiency] target by two percent," superintendent Andy Holmlund said. "That can be the difference between a good night's sleep, or a couple of responses that aren't completely filled in."

However, despite the negative label, Holmlund is pleased with the school's progress, and overall NCLB testing results back him up.

The target in math proficiency this year was to have 51 percent or more students meet that standard, while K. William Harvey students beat it by 8 percentage points. For both math and reading, 95 percent of students have to take the tests, and 99 percent of K. William Harvey took the test.

With test scores exceeding the minimum requirements in all areas except one, it's frustrating to be labeled as not making AYP, Holmlund noted. However, because it's the school's first year at not making it, the school is simply put on the "watch" list and does not face larger sanctions like schools that don't meet the standards multiple years in a row.

"I'm frustrated because it's such a needle in the haystack. It's don in such a way that the 'box score' is put out there, but the kids and the school did exceedingly well," Holmlund said. "We don't scuttle the ship because of one score."

Holmlund said Ronan teachers, including K. William Harvey staff, work hard on staff and curriculum development to ensure the students are educated according to district, state and federal standards. He said other testing results indicate KWH students are doing well, relative to other students around the state and the country.

"We don't just test in the spring," he said, referring to the NCLB tests. "We constantly check and recheck that our curriculum is covered, and the latest data is that individual students and sub-groups continue to show growth. Those indicators show that we are meeting the requirements set forth by the federal government and the State of Montana."