Catching up
Low test targets set for Hawaii public schools during the first half of the No Child Left Behind law could hamper the state's ability to bring all students up to speed in reading and math by a 2014 deadline, a new report says.
Rising Targets
Hawaii is among 23 states with public schools that will have to significantly raise the percentage of students meeting annual progress goals in order to have all of them proficient in math and reading by the 2013-14 academic year, as required by the No Child Left Behind law.
Here's Hawaii's targeted schedule:
| YEAR |
READING |
MATH |
| 2001-02 |
30% |
10% |
| 2002-03 |
30% |
10% |
| 2003-04 |
30% |
10% |
| 2004-05 |
44% |
28% |
| 2005-06 |
44% |
28% |
| 2006-07 |
44% |
28% |
| 2007-08 |
58% |
46% |
| 2008-09 |
58% |
46% |
| 2009-10 |
58% |
46% |
| 2010-11 |
72% |
64% |
| 2011-12 |
72% |
64% |
| 2012-13 |
86% |
82% |
| 2013-14 |
100% |
100% |
Source: Center on Education Policy
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Hawaii is among 23 states where schools were held to smaller achievement gains in the first six years of the mandate and as a result face steeper, "potentially unreachable" goals in the future, according to the study by the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy.
That approach is in contrast to models in 25 other states and the District of Columbia aimed at gradually increasing the number of proficient students each year. And it will likely cause more schools to miss benchmarks and face sanctions, the study found.
"Hawaii is going to have to work twice as hard to get to the end goal in the next six years because the goal is twice as hard," said Jack Jennings, the center's president.
For example, the percentage of isle students expected to be proficient readers rose from 30 percent in the 2001-02 school year to 58 percent this year, a 28-point hike. Schools now have the same number of years to raise that percentage by another 42 points, Jennings noted.
In math, 46 percent of a school's students need to be proficient this year, up from 28 percent a year ago and 10 percent when the law took effect.
Failure to reach so-called adequate yearly progress triggers steadily tightening sanctions. The stiffest is a broad school reform known as "restructuring," which entails intervention by outside educational firms at state expense.
The Hawaii Education Department's testing schedule -- with targets rising slowly then drastically jumping in the end -- was meant to help schools adapt to standards-based education, said Cara Tanimura, director for the systems accountability office.
"We are a huge system. It gave us time to do more professional development for our teachers, have the students get adjusted to the curriculum, which is pretty tough, pretty challenging," she said.
The Education Department is hoping Congress will amend the law, which failed to gain reauthorization this year, to make it more flexible.
"For us, 2013-14 is fairly close," Tanimura said.
Hana High and Elementary, which is being restructured, exited reading sanctions after enough students passed the Hawaii State Assessment for the second time last year, said Principal Richard Paul. The K-12 school on Maui also made progress in math but needs to repeat the improvement this year to avoid penalties.
Paul attributed the gains to teacher training with the help of a consultant, quarterly reviews of curriculum and standards, and explaining to students the importance of doing well in an exam that doesn't affect their grades.
He acknowledged it will be tough to sustain the performance.
"As these numbers go up and the percentages get higher, it does get more difficult," Paul said. "It is just like anything. It's easy to lose that first 10 pounds, but that last three pounds you got to lose to make your goal is harder."
Results from the Hawaii State Assessment, taken in April by more than 90,000 students in grades 3 to 8 and 10, are expected in the summer. Scores are used by the federal government to determine whether schools are on track.
Last year, Hawaii education officials said the test was changed to quiz students only on subjects to which they had been exposed, something they argue led to the first ever significant boost in scores.
A total of 184 schools, or 65 percent, met progress, up from 100 schools in 2006. A total of 98 schools flunked.
