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BY LORI YOUNT More Wichita public schools met state testing standards than last year, and a few more area suburban schools failed to do so, according to information released Wednesday by the State Department of Education. The number of Wichita public schools meeting testing targets in math and reading rose by 17 percent, with 60 of 84 schools achieving goals on state standardized tests administered in the spring, district officials said. Statewide, the number of schools meeting standards rose 1 percent, with 90 percent of the schools achieving targets. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools must have 100 percent of students score "proficient" on reading and math tests by 2014. To get there, the percentage of students that must achieve proficient on exams rises each year. The largest improvement in the Wichita district came in the middle schools, with almost triple the number meeting testing targets compared with last year, said Kathy Busch, assistant superintendent of middle schools. Eleven of 17 middle schools met testing targets, compared with four last year. Also, Wichita school officials announced Wednesday that Marshall and Mead middle schools, which are undergoing restructuring for missing testing goals for several years in a row, would be considered "new" schools by the state and start with a clean slate. Because the decision came after school started, seventh- and eighth-graders who already chose to be transferred to different middle schools will continue to be bused there, Busch said. Marshall students achieved goals on 2008 tests and Mead students did not, but since both are new schools, they both are counted as making targets for 2008, she said. "We've made good progress," Busch said. "The focus is on instruction as the target continues to go up." Three of Wichita's 11 high schools met state standards, including East, the district's largest school. Area suburban districts struggled with special-education students meeting testing goals this year as targets continue to rise. For a school to meet state standards, each category, or "subgroup" of students, including special education, must meet testing targets within that group. Maize High School failed to meet goals for the first time this year because special-education students didn't meet math standards, spokeswoman Karen McDermott said. Maize officials are meeting with high school employees and other districts to discuss strategies to improve scores. "It's definitely something we need to work with," McDermott said. In Haysville, both Campus High School and Prairie Elementary School missed standards because of special-education students not scoring high enough, spokeswoman Sandy Bradshaw said. The district has expanded the inclusion of special-education students into regular classrooms and added certified support staff to help raise achievement, she said. "We're making significant gains, but until every subgroup makes it, the school is not considered to make (targets)," Bradshaw said, adding that those gains have occurred among special-education students, too. At Goddard Middle School, it was also special-education students who didn't achieve targets in math that caused the school to miss standards for the first time. "The needs of these children are highly varied and some continue to be challenged to meet the standards and related assessments; however, instructional staff continues to address the individual needs as outlined in each student's educational plan as well as address the standards at the grade level," Joan L. Pritchard, Goddard's assistant superintendent of academic affairs, wrote in a statement. The state won't release statistics for each school until October. |
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