Grades Are in for Area Schools

By Teddye Snell, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.

Jun. 11–While area students received their final report cards several weeks ago, the state recently issued its assessment for area schools for the 2006-’07 year.

The report data for Cherokee County is vast, covering myriad issues from testing performance to absenteeism to parent participation.

According to information in the report, Tahlequah Public Schools has improved its performance overall from last year’s numbers, with students in all grades tested meeting or surpassing state and community group averages in all areas of study — including math and science.

The state average of students scoring satisfactory or above for end of year instruction for high school students in Algebra I is 78 percent, while 81 percent of THS students meet the benchmark.

Outgoing TPS Superintendent Paul Hurst is thrilled with the results.

“Even though the data is a year old, it shows wonderful progress,” said Hurst. “This is a credit to our teachers, students and leadership.”

Hurst indicated staff have been doing a number of things for several years to focus on improving scores.

“And our efforts are finally paying off,” he said.

The average drop-out rate for high school students in Tahlequah is below the state and community group average, at 18.3 percent. The number of juvenile offenders and suspensions is lower, too.

“We’ve worked real hard to reduce this number,” said Hurst. “Kids sometimes do things they shouldn’t do. We’ve worked to take a personal look at individual cases, and while some instances removal from school is called for, it’s not necessary to throw away the student.”

Hurst believes TPS’ involvement with community organizations and the dedication of community members aids student retention.

“Our alternative school, the in-school options and our care teams deal with symptoms in the schools,” said Hurst. “All of those entities come into play when you talk about the reduction in suspensions and juvenile referrals.”

Keys School Superintendent Jerry Hood experienced similar results in his district. Elementary school students in all grades, except third, met No Child Left Behind benchmarks in all areas. The end-of-instruction test numbers were slightly lower for high school students in science and math, but Hood indicated the problems have been addressed.

“Overall, we were very proud of our scores,” said Hood. “We’re putting a program in place to bring scores up in algebra, but progress is just going to take awhile.”

Hood indicated with each passing year, the makeup of students changes, which can often shift scoring from year to year.

“Our math teachers have proposed a program for next year to involve the parents even more,” said Hood. “They plan on offering classes to teach parents — well, basically how to help their children with their math homework. Some of us who are older don’t necessarily understand how some of the new teaching techniques work, so they wanted to offer their assistance. I think it’ll work out real well.”

Hood said parents with students seventh grade and older will be offered the opportunity to participate in the program.

Hulbert Superintendent Wayne Ryals took over his post in 2006 after the previous superintendent, Todd Kimrey, resigned. At the time, the school did not have enough funds to meet its obligations, and was addressing personnel issues.

Test scores for Ryals’ first year as superintendent weren’t as high as he’d hoped.

“We’re looking to do better,” said Ryals. “Of course, this year, we’ve been preoccupied with the potential Lost City absorption.”

The only benchmark met at the elementary school level was in third grade. Hulbert fourth- through sixth-graders fell below standards in math and reading. However, students in seventh and eighth grades exceeded standards in both subjects.

“We’re having and have had departmental meetings to discuss areas of concern and new strategies,” said Ryals. “We plan to have more classroom observation by building principals to ensure students’ needs are being met at all levels.”

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Copyright (c) 2008, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.

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