TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Hernando Schools Get 'A' Overall

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: July 9, 2008

BROOKSVILLE Give a gold star to Hernando County schools: The district has earned an overall "A" grade for the first time in the history of the state's A Plus Plan.
School officials celebrated the news Tuesday that nine schools had earned the top grade and nine got a "B." There were no "C" grades and two "D" grades.
The percentages of students meeting the standards in reading, math, science and writing, coupled with gains made by the lowest performing students in reading and math, were high enough to score an overall "A" grade. That's a step up from a "B" each year since 2004.
"We're extremely pleased," said School Superintendent Wayne Alexander. "The credit goes to the leadership at the (school) level and in the classroom. The magic happens in the classroom between the teachers and the students. I couldn't be prouder of the effort that took place."
The grades are a result of "a laser-like focus" on students who needed extra attention, Alexander said. Students are being monitored more closely, evaluated more often and given immediate feedback on where and how they need to develop, he said.
"For kids to improve, you need that immediacy," he said.
Marvin Gordon, principal at Spring Hill Elementary, and his staff said they benefited from that kind of strategy. The school went from a "C" to an "A," something Gordon's former school, Parrott Middle, did during his tenure.
Gordon said his current school took a "team approach," looked at data to pinpoint the students who need the most attention and hired a math coach. But even school staff is surprised by the results, he said.
"We were so elated today," Gordon said. "We just could not believe the progress we made."
Some other highlights of the results released Tuesday:
Five schools improved their grades; two dropped.
Eight schools maintained "A" grades. Maintaining a grade can be just as or more difficult than improving because a whole new group of students is being tested but must meet the standard set before them, Dannemiller said.
Of the district's 10 Title I schools, which have higher poverty rates, three maintained their "A" grades and three improved from "C" grades.
Springstead High School jumped from a "D" to a "B," the first time in six years the school has earned such a high mark.
There is a lot of work left to do, Alexander acknowledged.
Only four schools – Brooksville, Pine Grove and Chocachatti elementary schools and Pine Grove Academy -- met the "annual yearly progress," or AYP, standard set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
The standard gauges the progress of subgroups of students, including minorities and students with disabilities.
A simple yes or no verdict on the yearly progress doesn't tell the whole story, said Diane Dannemiller, the district's supervisor of federal programs.
A school can make gains in all but one of the subgroups, but that one group causes the school to miss the overall AYP mark. An initial look at data shows that most schools made gains in the subgroups, which helped the district's overall performance, Dannemiller said.
Generally, Hispanic students and students with disabilities fell short of the benchmarks, she said.
There were some disappointments.
Hernando High failed to break its slump, earning a "D" grade for the fourth consecutive year. Central High School scored a "D" after six years of "C's."
Ken Pritz took over as principal at Hernando High just last week.
The school's lowest performing quartile continues to struggle, he said, noting that reading scores in particular are not improving.
"Everything revolves around reading," he said. "If they're not good readers, they're not going to score well in the other subjects."
The school plans to focus on that area, and recently hired two new experienced staffers in the reading department, Pritz said.
"We know we have our work cut out for us," he said, "and we're going to do what we need to do not just to work on the score but to improve everything about Hernando."

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT