2 grades break
50% test barrier

Grades 3 and 5 prove
proficient in reading; however,
upper-level results evoke concern

For the first time, more than half of Hawaii's third- and fifth-graders reached "proficiency" in reading on standardized tests taken this spring, but there was little else to celebrate in results that were either flat or lower than last year.

Of the four public-school grade levels -- 3, 5, 8 and 10 -- that are tested on reading and math in the Hawaii State Assessment, no other group broke the 50 percent barrier for proficiency, which is defined as meeting the state academic standards for their grade level.

Of particular concern was the performance of the upper grades. Just one in five students in grades 8 and 10 reached proficiency in math, and overall scores in those grades were mostly unchanged from last year.

"While the gains in grades 3 and 5 are encouraging, we are concerned with the lack of improvement in the upper grades," Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto said.

"While we appreciate and acknowledge the hard work by our teachers and administrators, we also recognize that we have more work to do to ensure that all of our students are performing at grade level and above."

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Even slight growth is not good enough for Hawaii schools, which are under the gun to significantly raise proficiency rates in line with the steadily rising requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Elementary school students extended a consistent upward trend on the test, with 52 percent of third-graders meeting or exceeding proficiency in reading, compared with 47 percent last year.

In the fifth grade, 56 percent did so, compared with 50 percent last year. This is the first time in the Hawaii State Assessment's four years that any grade passed the 50 percent mark in either subject.

In math, 29 percent were proficient in the third grade, up from last year's 27 percent, while fifth-graders climbed 3 percentage points this year to 26 percent.

Schools that repeatedly fail over several years to attain certain proficiency benchmarks on the Hawaii State Assessment face federally mandated "restructuring" under the No Child Left Behind law.

This year's benchmarks are 44 percent proficiency in reading and 28 percent in math.

Schools that are nearing that point have been among those pushing hardest to raise scores.

"We've seen great gains. The scores have doubled in some areas," said Shelley Ferrara, principal of Wahiawa Elementary, which faces restructuring this year if it misses the benchmarks.

Ferrara, who does not yet know whether the school did well enough to avoid restructuring, credits "incredible support" from the Department of Education administration for the raised scores.

The department brought in private education firm ETS Pulliam as a consultant, and the school made changes that freed up time for teachers to analyze student work, spot weaknesses and address them.

The statewide results were much less encouraging in the upper grades, where a variety of factors such as the larger size of schools, increased disciplinary problems and adolescent distractions typically inhibit the focus on learning.

Thirty-eight percent of eighth-graders were proficient in reading this year, down a percentage point from last year and four points lower than 2002. Tenth-graders came in at 42 percent, virtually unchanged over four years.

In math the two grades reached 21 percent and 20 percent proficiency, respectively, also largely unchanged.

Hamamoto said those marks are expected to rise in the future as a result of various initiatives in high school, such as a move toward smaller "learning communities" within big schools and as younger children continue to move up through the system.

Several years ago the department began moving to a standards-based system marked by a core set of knowledge that students are expected to know and that the Hawaii State Assessment tests them on. Unlike older children, today's younger students have had the benefit of exposure to that system since kindergarten, which might account for their better Hawaii State Assessment showing, Hamamoto said.

The department also will soon implement plans to provide early support to more struggling schools to prevent them from reaching the point of restructuring, said Assistant Superintendent Kathy Kawaguchi.

"We're taking a step back and looking at all the services we have and that can be applied more to prevention rather than intervention," she said.

Younger students also performed better than older ones on the SAT test, which is administered along with the Hawaii State Assessment and provides a glimpse into how Hawaii students stack up nationwide.

More than 38 percent of third- and fifth-graders scored above average nationally in math, with about half that figure doing so in reading.

Meanwhile, about one in five Hawaii eighth- and 10th-graders scored above the national norm in math, but just 5 percent of 10th-graders did so in reading.

Hawaii's reading and math results are typically flip-flopped on the two tests, with the discrepancy blamed in part on a highly rigorous math portion of the Hawaii State Assessment.

The test requires students to explain their answers to math problems, which is thought to lower the scores of some who might know their math but not how to explain it in writing.

School-by-school Hawaii State Assessment results will be released on Aug. 18.