BonnerSprings.com

The Kansas Department of Education confirmed Wednesday that three Bonner Springs-Edwardsville schools did not making adequate yearly progress, but the department also cited three local schools for exceeding state averages.

Clark Middle School, Edwardsville Elementary and Bonner Springs Elementary failed to achieve the state standard, measured by assessments given each spring to students in select grades. Delaware Ridge Elementary and Bonner Springs High School each made AYP.

The federal 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. None of the district schools are identified for improvement for this school year.

Last month when discussing preliminary results, principals at Clark, Bonner Springs Elementary and Edwardsville Elementary said their schools didn’t make AYP as a result of the requirement that all subgroups — clusters of students in a demographic numbering 30 or more at each school — must make adequate yearly progress.

Their solutions for improving students’ scores on state assessments included offering after-school tutoring, giving more practice on computers to makes students more comfortable taking the test online and giving specialized help to each student needing it.

There was some good news for the district as well: Standard of Excellence awards were announced for reading, building-wide at Bonner Springs High School; for seventh grade at Clark Middle School; fifth grade at Delaware Ridge Elementary; and in math for fifth grade as well as building-wide for Delaware Ridge Elementary.

To receive a Standard of Excellence at the grade or building level in reading, the building must make AYP in the “All Students” group. To receive a Standard of Excellence in reading for grades third through sixth, at least 25 percent of students must be in the “Exemplary” category on the state assessment, with not more than 5 percent of students in “Academic Warning.” For grades seventh and eighth, 20 percent of students must score in the “Exemplary” category, with not more than 10 percent of students in “Academic Warning.” For high schools, at least 15 percent of students must be in the “Exemplary” category, with not more than 10 percent of students in “Academic Warning.”

To receive a Standard of Excellence at the grade or building level in mathematics, the building must make AYP in the “All Students” group, and for elementary grades, 60 percent of students must be classified as “Exceeds Standard” or above; 80 percent as “Meets Standard” and above; and 95 percent as “Approaches Standard” and above.

The achievement gaps among various groups of Kansas students in reading and mathematics are gradually closing, said Alexa Posny, Kansas commissioner of education, in a statement.

Also, “participation rates on all assessments in Kansas are above 99 percent for all students,” Posny said. “This indicates that the stakeholders in Kansas take the assessments very seriously and make sure that all students are counted.”

Comments

1. 

   bonnerdonner (anonymous) says…

   So what do we do now, move to a different school district?
   Mill Valley, Basehor and Piper all seam to do better.

   October 17, 2008 at 1:20 p.m.

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