Number is down from nine schools last year; most schools failed based upon a single subgroup

Six elementary schools in the Tooele County School District failed to make adequate yearly progress during the 2007-08 school year under the federal No Child Left Behind program.

Anna Smith, East, Harris, Middle Canyon, Rose Springs, and West elementaries did not make adequate yearly progress. Last year, nine Tooele County schools did not make annual yearly progress.

To measure AYP, test scores are evaluated for two subject areas: language arts and mathematics. Every other year, the score required to pass the test is raised. By 2014, 100 percent of all students will be required to score at the proficient level.

For example, in language arts for grades three through eight in 2002, 65 percent of students needed to score proficient to be considered adequate. This year, 77 percent is needed to be adequate, and next year that level goes up to 83 percent.

Scores are evaluated for the whole school and nine subgroups: Asian, African-American, American Indian, Caucasian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, economically disadvantaged, limited-English-proficient, and students with disabilities.

For a school to be considered as having made AYP, not only do the scores for the whole school and each subgroup have to meet the minimum requirement in both subject areas, but 95 percent of the students in each group must participate by taking the tests.

Each school in the district that failed to make AYP failed because a single subgroup failed — with the exception of Anna Smith Elementary.

At East Elementary — the only school in the district that has not made AYP for two years in a row — the whole school passed language arts with 78 percent and math with 70 percent. However, the economically disadvantaged subgroup scored only 61 percent in language arts and 50 percent in math — both too low for passing.

At Harris Elementary, the whole school scored 75 percent in language arts and 71 percent in math, both of which are passing scores. But the economically disadvantaged subgroup only scored 74 percent in language arts and 70 percent in math, which are both below adequate.

At Middle Canyon Elementary, the whole school scored 71 percent in language arts and 69 percent in math. While these scores fall just short of the benchmark, they are considered as adequate by the federal government for two different reasons. First, Middle Canyon’s score in language arts qualified under the “safe harbor rule,” which applies when academic requirements are not met but there is a 10 percent reduction in the number of students who failed the previous year’s testing. Second, in mathematics, Middle Canyon is considered to have made AYP because while the test scores were below the benchmark, they were within federal guidelines for the margin of error for the test. In other words, they were close enough.

At Rose Springs, the whole school scored 87 percent in language arts and 82 percent in math, while the limited-English-proficient subgroup scored only 35 percent in language arts and 30 percent in math.

At West Elementary, the whole school scored 76 percent in language arts and 75 percent in math. The school failed because the Hispanic subgroup only scored 50 percent on language arts.

At Anna Smith Elementary in Wendover, the whole school failed to make AYP in language arts, scoring only 52 percent. The subgroups of Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, and limited-English-proficient also failed to make AYP in language arts, and the Hispanic and limited-English-proficient subgroups also failed in math.

Four schools made AYP after appealing their status. Tooele County School District Superintendent Terry Linares appealed the status of Clarke Johnsen Junior High, and Copper Canyon, Grantsville, and Northlake elementary schools. The appeals were based on data errors and problems with the validity of math test scores, according to Linares.

Statewide, about 10 percent of schools made AYP based on appeals. Test scores for these schools are not available from the Utah State Office of Education.

Overall, Linares said the results look good for the district.

“We always have challenges to meet and we have examined the scores and are developing plans to address the subgroup areas where we need improvement,” Linares said.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com