School up for review
Mike Cast, Leader Staff
After failing to meet certain standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Polson High School will be evaluated by a Montana Scholastic Review Team sent by the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) beginning on Oct. 19.
According to the Scholastic Review Guidebook provided by the OPI, the purpose is to see evaluate the effectiveness of education and suggest corrections.
“Scholastic Review Teams will provide each visited school with a road map for the next steps in their continuous school improvement process … this alignment study is completed by conducting interviews, making visitations, and reviewing a portfolio the school will prepare prior to the team’s arrival,” the OPI’s guidebook reads.
The school will maintain contact with a representative from the OPI throughout the review, receive a report three weeks after the review is completed and be visited for a follow-up evaluation.
The review is mandatory for Polson High School because the OPI’s Final Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Status Report has determined that it has achieved below nationally set standards in the categories of overall graduation rate and reading for the subgroups of American Indian/Alaskan Native and economically disadvantaged.
Because AYP standards were not met in 2006 either the school is automatically required the review.
In 2006, the school also scored low in reading and graduation rate as well as math, which they have since improved to meet the standard.
This year’s reading scores for the American Indian/Alaskan Native and economically disadvantaged subgroups were 73 percent and 76 percent, respectively. These scores fall below the minimum target of 83 percent.
The school’s overall graduation rate was 71 percent, well below the target of 80 percent.
District No. 23 Superintendent Sue McCormick disagrees with the national evaluation process.
“I agree wholeheartedly with accountability. What’s different about No Child Left Behind is that it prescribed a one size fits all way of measuring student achieving,” McCormick said.
Her argument, one that she is not alone in, is that different school systems have different demographics and economic backgrounds and that evaluating them on a national basis is not practical.
“To set external standards, to me, is not serving students or stakeholders in education,” she said.
Despite the flaws she sees in the system that enforced it, McCormick is ready to embrace the review for what it is. On the upside she says that anytime a school can have an outside source evaluate it, it is a good thing.
“The (scholastic review team) is made up of educators. They will come in and give feedback … we’re going to get some feedback that is very helpful,” McCormick said.
Bringing up the review in her first Superintendent’s Community Council Meeting the morning of Sept. 24, McCormick said that the community’s first reaction was to worry but after further explanation, many people embraced the idea as a possibility to improve the school.
District No. 23 Director of Curriculum Bill Appleton said that he can’t fully evaluate the merits of the review because it hasn’t happened yet, although he likes it on paper.
“In concept I support it,” Appleton said.
Appleton predicted the extent to which the consulting might rework the current system. He mentioned, in one instance, he had seen a California school completely restaffed and reordered after scholastic review due to very serious issues, but says he doesn’t believe changes will be severe in Polson.
“I don’t believe the intent is to restructure schools or move staff around,” Appleton said.
Mostly, Appleton thought this was an opportunity for Polson to improve where it matters most and involve the community and parents along the way.
“There are specific areas we know we have to improve. Number one is the graduation rate; 71 percent is just not acceptable,” Appleton said.
On Oct. 8 Polson High School Principal Rick Rafter and other school employees met with representatives from the OPI to discuss the review process.
District No. 23 asks parents, students and other members of the community to please respond to a perception survey that will be helpful to the Scholastic Review Team coming to Polson High School on Oct. 19 at the following web address: