Test scores add up to district excellence

(Published Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007 in Examiner-Enterprise)

The numbers tell a rather uplifting story.

For the past several years, the trend has been evident. Test scores from throughout the Bartlesville Public School District are on the rise. Our students are making great gains.

When the Oklahoma State Department of Education released the Criterion Reference Testing and End of Instruction results earlier this summer, our students and staff members had plenty of reason to celebrate. Fourth graders from Jane Phillips Elementary School scored 100 percent proficient in their reading and math CRTs. Fourth graders throughout the district – from all seven of our elementary schools – tallied a 98 in reading and a 96 in math. All told, our state testing figures were excellent across the board at every grade level.

When the scores for the ACT, a national college entrance exam, were released a few weeks later, we received more good news. Bartlesville High School posted its best score – a 22.5 – since 2003 and easily topped the Sooner State average of 2007, which was a 20.5.

Once the weather begins to cool, we ready ourselves for more results. And recently, we received them in the form of the annual Academic Performance Index scores. The API is a numerical measurement by the State Department of Education used to calculate school excellence. Each school is given an API score and the district receives one as well. At the elementary school level, API scores are comprised of state testing scores in reading and math from the third through the fifth grade as well as overall school attendance, while middle schools receive a tally in the same areas for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

When we perused our latest API scores, we were thrilled. While a maximum possible score is a 1,500, the district tallied a lofty 1,347, besting the rock-solid 1,327 we posted in 2006. Several of our individual schools posted numbers which were simply eye-popping. Hoover Elementary School came within two points of the best possible score with a 1,498. Hoover actually exceeded what would be considered a “perfect” 1,500 with a 1,534 in reading and a 1,508 in math. Hoover officials knew their stellar 1,464 which the school posted a year earlier would be difficult to top, but somehow they did it.

Other elementary schools – namely Wayside (1,456), Ranch Heights (1,421) and Richard Kane (1,405) – continued to progress from the already lofty numbers which they had posted in 2006. Then, there were other schools which made tremendous gains.

Jane Phillips scored a 1,038 in 2005 and a 1,061 in 2006, leaving the school with room for improvement. That gap was made up rapidly this year when the Eagles swooped in with a superb 1,451. Jane Phillips has its challenges. Eighty-nine percent of the school's students are eligible for free and reduced lunch plans. But, everyone involved has overcome whatever hurdles have been put in front of them and are obviously making great strides, proving students from all backgrounds can achieve fantastic things.

Woodrow Wilson Elementary School made terrific improvement this year as well. The Wildcats became part of the Oklahoma A+ Network last year and have made great use of its philosophies. Initially an arts integration program, A+ has come to encompass all facets of education. Wilson posted a 1,246 in 2005, a 1,347 last year and then made a marked improvement this year with a stellar 1,464.

Oak Park Elementary School , which has 79 percent of its students on free and reduced lunch plans, improved for the third straight year with a solid 1,266.

Our two middle schools within the district – Central and Madison – posted very good scores. Madison tallied a 1,345 while Central put up a 1,299.

Both Bartlesville High School and the Bartlesville Mid-High School improved their API scores from the previous year. BHS has climbed the past three years and racked up a 1,295 in 2007. The Mid-High improved by more than 100 points in a year's span, gaining from a 1,223 in 2006 to a 1,325 in 2007.

At the Mid-High level, API scores are comprised of End of Instruction scores in English II and Algebra I as well as overall school attendance. For BHS, its scores come from a 10 percent calculation of ACT scores and its college remediation rate, a 10 percent calculation of school completion (involving attendance and graduation rates), and an 80 percent tally of the Algebra I and English EOI scores, which are actually gathered from the Mid-High.

While the Bartlesville Public School District rang up an overall API score of 1,347, the state average was 1,252. We have improved our district API score every year since the state began the calculation. That is what you want to see – steady, sustained improvement on an annual basis which is indicative of the fact that our teachers, principals and staff members are committed to providing the quality instruction and interventions necessary for continued progress.