...Christian Co.: progress in several areas; superintendent promotes Prichard "index" showing growth, KDE official calls it misleading...

Kentucky New Era, Hopkinsville, Sept. 27, 2011

Schools improve, still below NCLB standards
By Benjamin Joubert

Since the 2006-07 school year, Christian County Public Schools has shown marked improvements in every category of the Kentucky Core Content Test data.

However, while local elementary schools met all requirements mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law, middle and high schools are still below the mark.

KCCT scores are based on five levels of study: reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing on demand. After taking the test, students are ranked as either Novice, Apprentice, Proficient or Distinguished in each category of testing. A student is further considered to be Low, Medium or High within a certain rank. Out of the five categories, NCLB considers only the students who scored proficient or distinguished on the reading and mathematics portions of the test. Furthermore, schools are assigned “goals” for NCLB that are based on subpopulations such as African-American and free-and-reduced lunch students.

If a school drops below the required NCLB percentage in any subpopulation in reading or math, that school does not meet NCLB standards. Additionally, in order for a school to reach Average Yearly Progress for NCLB, that school must meet 100 percent of the NCLB goals assigned.

For example, a school can hit the NCLB benchmarks in all subpopulations, but one, and still not reach AYP.

Schools statewide hit 52 percent of the required NCLB goals, falling short in white, African-American, Hispanic, limited-English proficiency, free- and reduced-lunch, and disability student groups, according to data from the Kentucky Department of Education.

In the reading category for elementary schools, 76 percent of students statewide were considered proficient or distinguished. In the same category, local elementary schools scored around 81 percent. In math, district elementary schools scored around seven points higher than the state average. In every other KCCT subject, the local elementary schools scored above the state average.

However, local middle and high schools scored below the state average in all five categories of the core content test. The lowest middle score average was in writing on demand with nearly 39 percent considered proficient or distinguished. The same category had the lowest average statewide. The highest score for district middle schools was for reading with 66 percent considered proficient or distinguished.

Local high schools also scored the highest in reading with 61 percent being proficient or distinguished, but had the lowest mark in science at 28 percent.

In addition, Christian County Middle School reached nine out of the 16 required NCLB goals; Hopkinsville Middle School had 10 out of 13; North Drive Middle School hit six out of 16; Christian County High School had 14 out of 16, and Hopkinsville High School had nine out of 13.  As a district, 68 percent of NCLB goals required for AYP were met.

Consequently, both high schools are eligible for state assistance and all three middle schools are in need of “restructuring,” according to state records. Restructuring entails a revised improvement plan, technical assistance from the state and a notification to parents using state-proved information. State-provided information does not include data aquired from the Prichard Index, said Lisa Gross, KDE spokeswoman

Prichard Index

The Christian County Board of Education on Monday afternoon released data for the KCCT test scores using the Prichard Index. The Prichard Index accumulates data from all five areas of the core content test as well as students who scored novice and apprentice. It is scored on a 140-point scale. The index is not used on a state or federal level and is not supported by the KDE, Gross said.

“The index is misleading and it is not in the best interest of the implementation of Senate Bill 1,” Gross said, adding that the index isn’t reliable. “I hope they don’t use those.”

However, local Superintendent Brady Link said the index is a good gauge of how well the schools are doing in all five areas of the core content test, and not just those who score proficient or distinguished in reading and math.

“It was very important to us. We needed to know what to teach and what to teach better, “Link said. “It’s been used to tell us what techniques work.”

According to the Prichard Index, local schools, including middle and high schools, have improved in almost every category in every school.

Additionally, CCMS, HMS, CCHS and HHS all showed improvement in each category of the KCCT, according to the Prichard Index. A CCPS news release on Monday used data from KDE in the first paragraph only and Prichard Index data after.

State data “probably is as good or better than the Prichard Index,” Link said.

As a result, since the state only looks at reading and math for NCLB, in order for the schools to see trends in every core content category from past years, a separate index must be applied to the data, Link said, adding that state records don’t show “all the data.”

Data from the state does show percentages of students who scored novice, apprentice or distinguished in every category of KCCT during the 2010-11 school year and district totals from 2007.

State data shows nearly 40 percent of HHS students scored proficient or distinguished in the writing on demand category.

Prichard Index data show HHS scoring and overall 88.4 percent in the same category.

The Prichard Committee has been providing the index for the past three years, Gross said.

“We’ve never supported it,” said Gross.

Statewide, 42 percent of public schools met all of the NCLB goals required for AYP. Over half of those schools were elementary schools.

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