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ong>Ogden district: Some success, but room for improvement

OGDEN -- In Ogden School District, educators say it's great if a school makes the grade, but they also point to gains made in subcategories as proof that a school is succeeding regardless of a "no pass" label it may receive in the federal law known as No Child Left Behind.

NCLB's Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, report has 40 categories, including how various minority subgroups fare in language arts and math. Failing only one category means the entire school doesn't pass.

NCLB's AYP data based on tests taken at the end of last school year was released today.

Title 1 schools that don't pass two years in a row are put on a "school improvement list" and are subject to sanctions.

This year, two of Ogden district's Title 1 schools -- Lynn and Dee elementary schools -- are on that list.

Ogden High School passed AYP for the first time since the test reports became official, in spring 2002.

"I'm very excited and proud of the staff. It's been a long journey for them," said Ogden High Principal Sondra Jolovich-Motes.

Ben Lomond High School missed the grade by two categories. It needed a 90 percent attendance to pass, but the school had 89 percent. Ben Lomond also didn't pass muster with its graduation rate, which was 64 percent.

However, when looking at the scores from tests taken in spring 2006 compared with spring 2007, Ben Lomond High had substantial academic success.

"We made gains in every category for the year," said Ben Lomond High Principal Ben Smith.

"But we know we have to continue to improve. That's what we have to focus on."

For the "whole school" category in language arts, Ben Lomond went from 43 percent proficient in 2006 to 67 percent in 2007. In math, the school went from 32 percent in 2006 to 42 percent in 2007.

In the Caucasian subcategory, Ben Lomond rose from 53 percent to 75 percent in language arts, but rose from 43 percent to only 47 percent in math.

The school's Hispanic subcategory went from 30 percent to 54 percent in language arts and from 20 percent to 32 percent in math.

For the economically disadvantaged subcategory, scores went from 35 percent to 59 percent in language arts and 28 percent to 33 percent in math.

Limited English-proficient students increased from 27 percent to 48 percent in language arts and 17 percent to 39 percent in math.

"We are thrilled with our test data," Smith said. "There are increases in every area. This is evidence our students and teachers are making a tremendous effort to improve."

Ogden High also made gains in subcategories, said Jolovich-Motes, who transferred from her position as principal of Highland Middle School this fall. Ogden High was led by Ed Jenson during the 2006-07 school year, but is now retired and unavailable for comment.

For the "whole school" category, Ogden High progressed from 62 percent proficient in language arts to 72 percent. In math, the school went from 28 percent to 39 percent.

Ogden High's Hispanic subcategory rose from 34 percent to 52 percent in language arts and from 16 percent to 30 percent in math.

Economically disadvantaged students at Ogden High increased from 38 percent to 54 percent in language-arts proficiency and 26 percent to 34 percent in math.

Limited English-proficient students rose from 25 percent to 40 percent in language arts and from 9 percent to 24 percent in math.

At Ben Lomond, Smith said, officials will continue working hard to increase attendance rates. Missing the attendance category by 1 percentage point was "pretty tough to see," he said.

A new full-time attendance staff assistant, paid for out of trust land funding, will focus on the attendance issue, Smith said.

He said he believes, as the lower grades progress toward graduation, the academic rates will increase.

"We will continue to raise expectations of staff, students and parents," Smith said.

Ogden High educators say they will also strive to keep the school on track.

"We realize this is a starting point for us," said Ogden High Assistant Principal Dale Wilkinson.

Jolovich-Motes agrees, saying, "There is yet more to accomplish."

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