'No Child Left Behind' Report Cards in For SD
by Krystle Kacner
July 27, 2010
South Dakota's report card is in, and state education leaders say overall they're pleased with the results.
For 2009 to 2010, 95 percent of the public school districts made "adequate yearly progress."
Every year, public school students all across the state take "Dakota STEP Tests" that measure student progress in reading and math.
The results then score the students in four levels: advanced, proficient, basic and below basic.
And each year, as required by "No Child Left Behind" a higher percentage of students are required to be at an advanced and proficient level.
And this year, state education leaders saw that happen.
“We're very satisfied with where we're at, that we're growing, but we will never be 100 percent satisfied as long as we have any districts that are on school improvement and as long as not everybody's at the advanced and proficient level for each student,” said Tom Oster, the Secretary of Education.
And this year 6 districts failed to make adequate yearly progress. Sioux Falls is one of those. However School District Officials say they are focusing on the positive.
"All these do is present a challenge for every building in the next year,” said Sharon Schueler.
Sharon Schueler, the Coordinator of Assessment and Evaluation for the Sioux Falls School District says Even though they decreased over all, they still saw some growth and improvement in 5 of what the report calls "subgroups” which include ethnicities and nationalities, students with disabilities, and limited English proficiency. She says Sioux Falls is the only district that has children in every "subgroup."
"We also would like to see our progress inch forward and increase every year so that the teachers and every staff member of the Sioux Falls School District realizes that all their efforts are worth it,” Schueler said.
State Education Leaders have the same philosophy. They are pleased with this year’s numbers, but continue to strive for improvement.
The department of Education also announced a new initiative called "Reading Up."
The goal of this program is to provide targeted training to teachers, focusing on the 2 reading standards at each grade level that students struggle with most.
