Published: September 12, 2008 04:02 pm            

SCHOOL RANKINGS: District keeps top 10 ranking

Elementary schools up, high school, middle school down

Staff Reports

Grand Island’s Regents and Advanced Placement test scores improved enough to keep the district in the top 10 but couldn’t keep pace with improvements at other high schools and middle schools.

That’s the assessment from Superintendent Robert Christmann, whose district also saw improvements at the both elementary schools.

Huth Elementary rose to 55 from 89 and Kaegebein inched up to 37 from 40.

Conversely, the high school fell from 23 to 27 and the middle school dipped ten spots to 49.

District-wise, the Grand Island stayed at 10, which was also last year’s ranking after several years of upward improvements.

As for the shifts at the high school and middle school, Christmann characterized these changes as “small,” making it difficult to pin-point what caused it.

This year’s ranking are based on standardized test scores from 2006-07.

Christmann said the district will use its student data management system to analyze tests and curriculums and see if there are areas where instruction is insufficient.

Of course, Island strengths like sports and music aren’t reflected in the rankings, which are based on test scores.

“We want our students to do well in everything,” Christmann said.

Some districts are bucking the pen and paper test by pushing more “authentic assessments,” he said.

GI’s schools superintendent said the state education department has resisted these “alternative assessments” for the general student population.

Christmann attended a rankings question and answer session Friday, and he was eager to get more information regarding specifics of the rankings, which he said are not clear now.

At the middle school level, the most important factor in the ranking change had to do with students that earned top scores on exams, he said. The number did not increase as significantly as it did at other schools, he said.

While the debate regarding overtesting and overquantifying students rages on, Christmann is pragmatic about the test scores.

“That’s a whole other discussion,” he said. “But they’re here, so we’re going to do the best we can.”

Grand Island also ranked in the top 10 for administrative efficiency, socioeconomic climate and teacher pay.

        

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