Hawaii public school students made big reading and math gains in all tested grades last school year, growth that U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called an "encouraging sign" for continuing improvement.
Statewide, 71 percent of students in 2011-12 demonstrated proficiency in reading in the Hawaii State Assessment, up from 66 percent the year before, data released Tuesday show.
In math, 59 percent of students were proficient, up from 54 percent the year before.
Hawaii education officials said the across-the-board gains, a first for the students, are proof that reforms under way to toughen standards and improve instruction are moving schools in the right direction.
The scores come on the heels of gains in math and reading for island students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card.
Ronn Nozoe, Department of Education deputy superintendent, said improvements on the state test and on NAEP are "strong indicators of our trajectory and the path that we’ve taken and are actually carrying out."
"We’re not there yet," Nozoe said, "but this trend is really, really encouraging. We’ll take a moment to enjoy the excitement, (then) roll up our sleeves to get back to work."
The state test results are welcome news for a department struggling to improve its public image while coping with budget constraints and rolling out initiatives — not all of them popular — aimed at boosting student achievement and teacher effectiveness.
Some of the planned improvements have been hampered by delays and a labor dispute with teachers now in its 12th month — problems that led the U.S. Department of Education to put the state’s $75 million Race to the Top grant on "high-risk" status last year.
Duncan, in a rare national statement on state scores, said Tuesday that despite the state’s "challenges and setbacks in meeting Race to the Top goals, Hawaii has maintained a relentless commitment to moving forward."
In an embargoed briefing for reporters Monday, Nozoe said the fact that students and teachers were able to raise scores amid some tough times is testament to the value of continuing reforms and their dedication.
"To me, this connotes a lot of hope and faith in our schools," he said. "They continue to manage to really put the issues on the side and focus on the kids. We say all the time that kids are real resilient, but you know, educators are really resilient, too."
Some of the biggest year-over-year gains were seen in grades six and 10. The percentage of sixth- and 10th-graders proficient in math increased a dramatic 6 percentage points, while the percentage of sixth-graders proficient in reading also shot up by 6 percentage points.
In addition, four grade levels — third, fifth, seventh and eighth —saw the percentage of students proficient in reading grow by 5 percentage points.
Overall, the gains meant the raw number of students testing proficient in reading and math in 2012 increased by about 6,000 in each subject compared with last year.
Altogether, 96,000 public school students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10 took the state exam in testing periods from October to May. It was the second year the test was administered online, rather than with paper and pencil. Students can take the online test up to three times, and schools can use a child’s highest score.
The higher scores meant more schools met Adequate Yearly Progress goals this year for reading and math proficiency under the federal No Child Left Behind law. For a school to meet AYP this year and last year, 72 percent of its students had to have tested proficient in reading and 64 percent proficient in math.
Statewide, 49 percent of 255 noncharter public schools met AYP, up from 42 percent in 2011. Nine of 31 public charter schools met AYP, from 10 in 2011.
Among the schools that saw big growth was Ilima Intermediate in Ewa Beach, which made AYP for the first time since 2004. Last school year, 74 percent of Ilima students tested proficient in reading, from 68 percent in 2011, and 62 percent were proficient in math, from 47 percent.
The scores came in the first full year after Ilima was split in two, with about half of its 1,400 students moving to Ewa Makai Middle School.
Ilima Principal Jon Henry Lee, who started at the school in July 2011, said the higher scores are a credit to hard work by teachers. He also said students pushed to improve their performance. Many, he said, scored personal bests on the test.
"The school in the past had a negative connotation," Lee said. "But we are all about academics."
Central Middle School, which has 363 students, is also working to repair its reputation.
This year, for the first time in years, it met AYP through "safe harbor," essentially because the gains students made were so large. At the school, 62 percent of students were proficient in reading (from 53 percent last year), and 62 percent were proficient in math, from 55 percent.
Central Principal Cindy Yun-Kim said the school is committed to more improvements.
"Our goal is to keep the momentum going," she said.
While AYP standards are scheduled to rise again in 2013 — to 86 percent of students proficient in reading and 82 percent in math — the state is planning to request a waiver to key provisions of NCLB.
Half of the states have already done so under a U.S. Department of Education program, which grants districts "flexibility" in meeting mandates under NCLB, in exchange for adopting high standards and spelling out what other accountability system they would use.
Under NCLB, schools that do not achieve AYP for two consecutive years are subject to varying sanctions that include state intervention. Eighty-three Hawaii schools are in "restructuring" and face the most severe sanctions under NCLB, from 86 last year.
The biggest criticism of NCLB by educators and onlookers has been that it penalizes schools based on the results of one test and does not allow for recognition of growth. The law also has an all-or-nothing approach. Schools must meet objectives for the total student population and for all subgroups, which can include low-income students and English language learners.
Don Horner, Board of education chairman, said Tuesday an example of the problems with NCLB can be seen in the fact that only one Hawaii high school, Kohala High, met AYP last school year. Some schools missed it because a few students’ test scores were shy of the cut score.
"We have very outstanding high schools, and this report doesn’t reflect that," he said.
Waialua High and Intermediate (enrollment 650) was the only intermediate and high school combination school that met AYP this year.
The percentage of Waialua students proficient in math jumped to 72 percent in 2012, from 65 percent. Reading remained steady, with 79 percent of students proficient.
Waialua Principal Randiann Porras-Tang said the gains at her school are thanks to rising standards and efforts to individualize. "Teachers were very focused. Students were very focused," she said.
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Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said no Hawaii high school met Adequate Yearly Progress last school year.
