5 districts must work on school improvement plans

OLYMPIA - Five Columbia Basin school districts will be required to work on improvement plans at schools within the district, based on a list released by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

North Elementary in Moses Lake, Soap Lake Elementary and Soap Lake Junior-Senior High were designated as "priority" schools by OSPI. Parkway Elementary in Ephrata and Ephrata Middle School were designated as "focus" schools. So were Monument Elementary, Quincy Junior High and High Tech High in Quincy and McFarland Middle School in Othello. Frontier and Chief Moses middle schools also are on the focus list.

Schools were designated as priority or focus schools on the basis of achievement test scores, according to a press release from OSPI.

Priority schools may already have had the designation, according to the press release, like North Elementary and both Soap Lake schools. Focus schools have scored in the lowest 10 percent statewide in reading and math - not school-wide, but in specific categories. Parkway Elementary, Monument Elementary and Quincy Junior High are focus schools because of scores of English as a second language students.

High Tech High was designated due to the graduation rate. Chief Moses, Frontier, Ephrata and McFarland middle schools were listed because of test results for special needs students.

For Chief Moses and Frontier, district officials "have to identify some new strategies" to help (in this case) special needs students, said district superintendent Michelle Price. The plans will be very similar to plans and techniques already in use district-wide, she said, but the process includes more detailed studies of student data and an "intense focus" on the group identified.

Priority schools have different requirements, Price said. North Elementary is not new to the school improvement process, and district officials already have added more reading and math coaches, and there are a number of new teachers. A new reading curriculum was adopted district-wide, Price said. Like the focus schools, the curriculum and practices at priority schools are about the same as those used at all district schools, but with a more focused approach, she said.

Othello Superintendent George Juarez said district officials have some experience with the focus school designation, and how to address the issues involved. Hiawatha Elementary was a focus school, but improved enough this year to get out of school improvement, he said. Some of the same strategies that boosted student performance at Hiawatha can be applied at McFarland, he said. "We've always looked for ways to improve student achievement," he said. It's too early to tell if focus schools will get any extra support from the state, he said.

Quincy Junior High and Monument Elementary already were focus schools, district superintendent Burton Dickerson said. Each school is required to write a student development plan, which they've already done, he said. The schools are providing teacher training, and implementing effective teaching practices based on research, he said. The extra effort is designed to help all Quincy students, but there's an emphasis on kids who face language barriers, he said.

Ephrata superintendent Jerry Simon said Ephrata Middle School already was in school improvement. The school has won a number of awards over the last three or four years, he said, including three "school of distinction" awards. It's possible to have a school doing a good job overall, but still needing extra help for one group of students, Simon said.

Parkway Elementary was added to the list for the 2014-15 school year, he said.

School improvement can be "an opportunity to hone in and focus" on kids, small groups of kids and individuals, he said, and try to determine what level of intervention is required.

Ephrata officials are working on a district wide initiative to teach vocabulary, which will help all kids, he said. It's especially helpful for kids who are facing challenges with mastering English, he said. The district also hired a math coach for kindergarten through sixth grade, Simon said.