Post-appeal, WHEA meets AYP

West Hawaii Explorations Academy now meets adequate yearly progress following a successful appeal of Hawaii State Assessment preliminary results released this July.

Academy Co-Director Heather Nakakura said Wednesday the public charter school filed the appeal after receiving the July 17 preliminary No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress report because of an error in the school’s graduation rate. The error, she said, put the school’s graduation rate at 80 percent, below the 82 percent requirement.

Post-appeal, the school’s graduation rate is 91 percent, according to final results released Sept. 28 by the state Department of Education.

“We had to put in an appeal after finding several errors,” Nakakura said. “And, this is good news.”

West Hawaii Explorations Academy is now listed as “In Good Standing, unconditional” with a reading proficiency rate of 94 percent and math proficiency rate of 58 percent. No Child Left Behind 2011-12 standards call for a 72 percent proficiency in reading and 64 percent proficiency in math, which WHEA did obtain in the preliminary results.

Glenn Nochi, an evaluations specialist with the department, said the preliminary result was calculated at 64 percent because of the standard error proportion used. When the appeal determined the graduation rate was 91 percent, superseding the standard, Nochi said the department used the safe harbor provision, which forgives a school for low test scores from a subgroup if students show yearly improvement and the school scores well on the whole, to calculate the school’s math proficiency rate at 58 percent.

“The bottom line is: They’ve met, unconditionally,” he said. “Because they met the graduation rate and could use safe harbor, the reported percentage rate changed.”

Nakakura said the school exceeded reading proficiency because of its overall method of teaching that allows students to choose their area of study, which she said better engages the students and helps in learning. She attributes the school’s math proficiency to a focus on mathematics, as well as adopting teaching methods that other public charter schools have successfully used.

“But, just because we made it doesn’t mean we don’t have to keep plugging away,” she added, noting math will remain a focus.

West Hawaii Explorations Academy was one of six schools that filed successful appeals of preliminary results from the Hawaii State Assessment, according to the Department of Education. The other schools now considered as meeting AYP are: Pahoa High and Intermediate and Waters of Life Public Charter School on Hawaii Island, and Kalani High, Mokapu Elementary and Sunset Beach Elementary on Oahu.

However, even with the successful appeals that brought the total number of schools meeting adequate yearly progress to 139 out of 286, 51 percent of public and public charter schools remain below federal No Child Left Behind standards. That is down from 59 percent in 2010-11.

Of the 26 public schools, including six charter schools, in West Hawaii, 13 met adequate yearly progress, according to the final report. That’s up from six that made AYP in 2010-11.

Those listed as not meeting progress standards for academic year 2011-12 are: Honokaa Elementary, Honokaa High and Intermediate, Holualoa Elementary, Kealakehe Elementary, Kealakehe Intermediate, Kealakehe High, Kohala Middle, Ke Kula O Ehunuikaimalino, Konawaena Middle, Konawaena High, Kona Pacific Public Charter School and Waimea Middle Public Conversion Charter School.

This academic year, 2012-13, adequate yearly progress math proficiency standards increased to 82 percent, reading to 86 percent and graduation to 85, according to the department. In 2013-14, math proficiency standards increase to 100 percent, reading to 100 percent and graduation to 90 percent.