[ OUR OPINION ]
DISAPPOINTING results of the initial tests established to measure performances of public school students show how demanding the task to improve education in Hawaii will be. However, parents, students and educators should not be daunted as the tests are just the initial step in the long road ahead. What is encouraging is that the state Board of Education has set a high bar for achievement despite the challenges and the possible consequences of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. High standards will
raise level of education
THE ISSUE The state Board of Education sets a benchmark for measuring children's public school performance.
The Hawaii Content and Performance Standards test, administered for the first time last spring to children in grades 3, 5, 8 and 10, found 19 percent of students met or exceeded proficiency levels in math, with 56 percent approaching proficiency and 25 percent scoring lower. In reading, 39 percent reached or surpassed proficiency, 50 percent approached it and 11 percent were classified deficient.
The test will be the baseline on which compliance with the federal act is gauged. The board last week adopted standards to reflect a high level of achievement in hopes of stimulating progress toward better education.
The move holds risks. Schools that are found to be in need of improvement, as measured by test scores, could face the loss of federal funds, student transfers, increased tutoring, curriculum mandates and eventual dismantling, all costly penalties.
In response to the federal law, some states are altering their student-performance standards. Connecticut fixed a lesser goal, which about 80 percent of its public school students already have achieved. California, where proficiency standards are set so that high school graduates are prepared for four-year colleges, also is proposing separate benchmarks for the No Child Left Behind requirements, while Arkansas solved its problem by lowering its criteria.
By adopting more stringent standards, Hawaii's board has chosen not to go that route, recognizing that skirting the law gains nothing but a continued degradation of public education.
The board's action is but one of several recent bright spots in the campaign to improve schools. Others include upgrading the quality and number of teachers, which the Department of Education and the University of Hawaii are targeting. UH, the DOE and other early-education organizations have adopted the P-20 Initiative that integrates all levels of education from pre-school to college.
Voters have made clear they want renewed attention and funding given to public education, which should prod policymakers and legislators. The performance standards appear to signal a new objective for public education. It may be a small step, but it moves Hawaii forward nonetheless.
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