School ratings on an upswing

The number of schools statewide with the top honor of "excelling" climbed slightly, while far more inched into the "performing plus" category and fewer schools were deemed "underperforming."

That's true locally as well.

Schools in the Catalina Foothills and the Tanque Verde Unified districts once again were firmly planted in the excelling categories. Schools in the Vail School District also were atop their game, including the brand-new Senita Valley Elementary School, near Civano. Several charters, including BASIS-Tucson, held on to bragging rights, too.

Given that AIMS scores were up across the state, the bump in labels was anticipated to some degree. Still, state schools chief Tom Horne chalked up the growth to a new atmosphere in schools. "This is the expected result of our focus on academic rigor in the classroom," he said. "We're holding everyone accountable, from administrators to teachers and students, so there's a new sense of urgency in the schools. They realize that they've got to get the kids learning."

Pima County's largest district, Tucson Unified, saw 41 schools move into a higher category, including 11 excelling schools and 14 "highly performing" schools. It also now has 38 percent of its schools in the performing-plus category — up from 20 percent last year.

The ranks of its schools in the underperforming category shrank dramatically, from 17 percent last year to 3 percent this year, although its Maxwell Middle School joined charter Ha:san Middle School in moving into failing status this year.

One of the brightest spots for TUSD is Naylor Middle School, which leapt out of failing status after bypassing "performing" altogether and landing in the performing-plus category. Typically, schools must have two consecutive years of securing at least a performing label to move out of failing status, but its corrective-action agreement with the state was written in 2007, before the state Education Department changed the rules.

"It feels great," said a visibly relieved Don Calhoun, who took over the midtown school three years ago, just as its failing status launched a high-profile restructuring in which staffers reapplied for their jobs and professional mentors were installed.

"Despite the separation of church and state, there were a lot of people praying for the school," the principal quipped.

Very targeted teaching also helped.

TUSD's research staff focused on underperforming schools at the start of the year, pinpointing which concepts students were missing and how their scores fit into the label matrix.

"Once they had a better understanding of the work they needed to do, it gave them the ability to not panic," said David Scott, the district's numbers guru. "Once they understood why they were having trouble, they just had to put a plan in place and execute it."

Calhoun said enhanced testing was the key for Naylor. In three-week cycles throughout the school year, students took pre-tests to see how close they were to meeting a specific state academic standard. Teachers plugged the holes, then the kids took another test to ensure they absorbed the material before moving on to another standard.

An intensive tutoring program helped students still struggling with material.

The school launched a new reading program and a daily drop-everything-and-read session for everyone from students to custodians.

A school basketball camp even sneaked academics, with students reading sports stories, for example.

Even though Calhoun said it's a relief to no longer be considered a failing school, Naylor isn't out of the woods just yet.

Because it is no longer "failing," it will lose some of the assistance it had, including three instructional coaches.

Because attendance has dropped from about 520 students to an anticipated 330, there will be no assistant principals. Also, six of its 22 teachers were let go in the April round of pink slips, so nearly a quarter of its staff will be new this year.

And then there's the fact that while it's doing better under the state's measurement of progress, it isn't meeting muster under the federal No Child Left Behind accountability system, which relies far more heavily on how many students pass AIMS, the state's accountability test.

This past year, 57 percent of Naylor's eighth-graders passed the math portion of Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards, up from 39 percent in 2008. Its reading scores for eighth-graders showed similar gains. Sixth-graders didn't move as much, though, with only 39 percent meeting standards for math and reading.

Naylor isn't alone. Its story is shared by a number of middle schools in the district.

Wakefield is about to enter into restructuring under the federal program if it doesn't turn things around this year. And Hohokam, Maxwell, Naylor and Valencia are all in federal corrective action to try to make headway before they have to be restructured.

Jim Fish, the assistant superintendent in charge of TUSD's middle schools, said his plan for the year is to shift the thinking away from intervention and more toward making instruction more effective on the front end.

"I don't like to give excuses, but in middle school, there are a lot of dynamics — hormone changes, kids learning about themselves, peer pressure. All of those things come to bear at the middle-school level, so if we don't have learning that is personalized for kids, that helps them make true connections and that establishes relationships based on trust and competency, then kids will tune us out."

And after this next round of AIMS tests, it could get even harder for those schools because more students will have to meet standards as the state ratchets up to 100 percent proficiency by 2014.

Only 56 percent of sixth-grade students need to be proficient in AIMS math now, for example, but that will climb to 67 percent in 2010-11 and jump again to 78 percent in 2011-12.

Teara Colter, 33, a social worker with a daughter at Naylor, said some of her friends were surprised that she'd put her daughter in a failing school. Initially, she had her own reservations.

But then-sixth-grader Jamilah reminded her that after all of her lectures about trying to make things better, it would be hypocritical to give up so easily.

Colter said she was heartened by the label, adding that Naylor has been "a great experience" for Jamilah, who plays sports, sings in the choir and serves on the Student Council. Colter said her only concern is the pending loss of resources that made such a difference for students.

Thirteen-year-old Jamilah, now going into eighth grade, said she, too, is happy to see the label change.

"To me, it seems like some people judge kids from Naylor. I don't think a lot of people think there are smart people at that school, so I think this is going to matter to a lot of people."

On StarNet: How did your child's school rate? Search statewide databases of these reports plus recently released AIMS scores at azstarnet.com/education

"It feels great. Despite the separation of church and state,

there were a lot of people praying for the school."

Don Calhoun, principal of Naylor Middle School, which moved from "failing" into the "performing-plus" category