Early TAKS scores look good for PAISD
BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

The preliminary TAKS numbers are in, and they're looking generally good for Port Aransas schools.

TAKS - the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills - is state-mandated testing that is done to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Depending on how students perform on TAKS tests, the Texas Education Agency assigns public schools all over the state varying statuses, from academically unacceptable on up to acceptable, recognized and, at the top of the scale, exemplary. When schools are rated unacceptable two years in a row, it can lead to a maximum consequence of the state taking over a campus and firing administrators and teachers.

Port Aransas Independent School District Superintendent Billy Wiggins presented preliminary results of the TAKS tests to the PAISD Board of Trustees during a trustees meeting on Tuesday, May 10. The results are from testing this school year of students in the third through 11th grades.

Preliminary results indicate that the Port Aransas Independent School District will be ranked as recognized - the same ranking it had last year, said Bob Smith, president of the PAISD Board of Trustees.

While final calculations haven't been done yet, indications right now are that Brundrett Middle School has a chance to be given the top rank of exemplary for the school's performances this year on the TAKS said Bob Byrd, principal of Brundrett Middle School.

"I'm very pleased," Byrd said. "I think staff and the kids just did a fantastic job. We have just great parental support around here and great support from the community, (school) board and superintendent too."

Byrd, who is about to finish his first year as principal at BMS, also credited the previous administration. Travis Longanecker, now principal at Port Aransas High School, was principal at BMS in the 2005-2006 school year.

Byrd also said a low teacher-to-student ratio of about 12-1 also figures prominently in the school's success. That ratio is thanks to district administration, the school board and support from the community, Byrd said.

Among highlights in BMS TAKS scores this year: 100 percent of the school's seventh graders passed the writing portion of the TAKS test.

Even the lowest scores weren't bad. The lowest score at BMS: Eighty-five percent of eighth graders passed the math part of the test. And that is a slight improvement over last year's score.

Byrd cautioned that it is possible BMS will be assigned a rank of recognized rather than exemplary. BMS scores appear exemplary but are on the borderline, close to recognized status, Byrd said.

It likely will not be until August that the state will figure its final calculations on how schools will be ranked.

BMS was ranked as recognized last year.

H.G. Olsen Elementary School Principal Sylvia Buttler said her school this year will likely end up being ranked as recognized - a one-step drop from the exemplary status the school achieved last year.

Part of the reason for the drop was this, Buttler said: Some of the H.G. Olsen students who took the TAKS tests were special education students who did not take the TAKS last year, but instead took less difficult tests - called State Alternative Assessments, also called SDAA II - that were designed for special-education students. Most of the special-education students reportedly did not score as well as their classmates.

State and federal education officials are pushing to get more special education students put back in classrooms with their regular-education classmates, and the Port Aransas Independent School District is following suit, said Lindley Eldridge, a special education teacher at Olsen Elementary.

Educators nationally have found that the longer special-education students are taught separately from the rest of their classes, the more they fall behind, said Clare Adams, a fourthgrade teacher at Olsen Elementary.

Smith, the school board president, said he felt "very good" about the TAKS performance of the elementary and the district as a whole.

"I think our teachers and administrators have done an excellent job," Smith said. "And (about) mainstreaming the special-education folks - again, the focus was on what was the right thing to do for these kids."

Smith said he the dip in elementary TAKS scores was expected and likely will be short-term, perhaps lasting only one year.

"I expect for (special-education students) to … start reaching and maintaining the same standards and levels the rest of the kids are, because of the administration and professionalism and teaching we have," Smith said.

Despite the fact that Olsen Elementary fell one ranking, a number of bright spots still shone in the school's TAKS results.

Some 100 percent of the school's third graders passed the reading section of the TAKS, for example. Fortysix percent of the third-grade class missed only one or two questions. Four students made perfect scores.

In the fifth grade, 92 percent of the students passed the math portion. Forty-five percent missed only one or two questions, which gave them "commended" status.

Port Aransas High School Principal Travis Longanecker said he expects his school to be rated as recognized. It's the same ranking the school got last year, but students actually did better this year on the TAKS, overall, Longanecker said.

For example, 80 percent of PAHS students passed the math portion of the test this year, while only 72 percent passed last year.

The state's standard for being recognized in a given subject area has been raised five percentage points over last year. Last year, Texas schools had to have at least 70 percent of students passing in a given subject area to be recognized. Now it's 75 percent. If the new standard had been in place last year, PAHS would not have reached recognized status for math scores.

Only 72 percent of sophomores passed math, but that was up from 59 percent last year,

Some highlights: Forty-eight percent of students who took exit level English were commended for their scores, which means they missed only a handful of questions, if any. And more than half of the sophomores and juniors reached commended status in the social studies portion of the tests.

Overall, Longanecker said he is "very pleased" about the TAKS results. "But it's not the only thing I'm pleased about," he said. "We at the high school had such accomplishments this year, that TAKS … is not the biggest thing we did this year. It has to be taken in context."

Among PAHS superlatives during the 2006-2007 school year was a trip to the state tournament for the Lady Marlins basketball team. The school sent 21 students to UIL academic competition at the regional level, and the team ended up winning the whole thing. Competing at state level in UIL academics were eight students - a large team for a school as small as PAHS.

In addition, the PAHS band won sweepstakes this year and sent four students to state solo and ensemble competition.

"There's so much more about our school than just that word, 'recognized, ' " Longanecker said.

Byrd also said schools should not go overboard with attention to TAKS scores. He said he wants BMS to feature "a great general education, in a supportive atmosphere, with room for athletics and the arts and, sure, TAKS success too."