BonnerSprings.com

For the last four years, Bonner Springs High School has been on a mission.

In 2004, the school failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress standards in mathematics. This year, however, the district got a happy surprise when the school’s scores not only passed that standard but also improved 17.9 percent from the previous year’s score.

“The teachers, in the past two years in particular, looked at the curriculum alignment, looked at teaching methods, looked at teaching things that were going to be tested,” said Robert Van Maren, superintendent of the district. “They’re doing a fantastic job using different methods of learning. This just proves the power of committed teachers to improving student achievement levels.”

The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to determine whether schools and districts are making adequate progress to get all students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. Schools receiving federal money that don’t make AYP for two years in a row are “identified for improvement” under No Child Left Behind, which is intended to allow parents to make informed decisions about their children’s schools.

Van Maren said the school’s math department is a group that works well together and that the faculty's hard work has paid off with this year’s scores.

Last year the school had a 68.4 percent proficiency rating, just above the 64.6 percent mark required for a school to meet the AYP standard. BSHS principal Jerry Abbott said this year’s score of 86.3 percent was a significant improvement, which he attributes not only to the math department hard work, but to the students themselves.

“I think the students are more aware of the need to do their best on this assessment,” Abbott said. “If students don’t think it’s important, it’s going to be very difficult to obtain goals and to identify what they know and how well they know it. I think this year they really bought into that this is important for the school and the community.”

On the math department’s side, Abbott said the teachers focused on what the school calls “transference,” or the real-world relevance of each lesson. Abbott said teachers throughout the school are making sure to mention when a lesson will come up again in either another teacher’s class or further in their future.

Donna Sharpnack, a BSHS math teacher and chairperson of the math department, said she’s seen a greater motivation among her students to do better on the state assessment tests. While rewards such as being exempt from a final or a field trip to a movie may have helped get some motivated, Sharpnack said that most of the students just put in the effort that was needed, despite the score not affecting their grades or transcripts.

“It was just them putting in their best effort, and they should be proud of their work,” she said. “Our district did not make AYP but as far as the high school in concerned, everyone should be very proud.”

Sharpnack said that in addition to revamping the curriculum and aligning the lessons with what will show up on the test, the school has also started a new math review class to help students who are struggling or missing basic skills. Right now, students are required to complete three math credits before graduation, but if a student is a identified as needing a brush up on some basics, Sharpnack said the math review class allowed him to get the help necessary.

The process of getting the school to this point has been a tough road, and Abbott said it’s not over yet. While the school and students have taken the past couple weeks to celebrate, he said the staff has begun the process of compiling data from the first-quarter grades, as well as state assessment scores so the school continues to identify areas to improve.

“We’re proud of everybody,” Abbott said, “but we still want to work hard because we know that this job is never ending.”

Also receiving special recognition was the school’s reading scores. BSHS received a standard of excellence in reading, which is the highest possible score, achieved by about 5 percent of schools in the state.

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