| By Bob Weaver
The Calhoun school board heard the bad news and the good news Monday evening about Calhoun Middle-High School failing to meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) for 2009-10.
Administrator Carla Taylor said, "We're having the data reviewed by all the staff," saying the main issue with the scoring on Westest II and the AYP standards is a problem with sub-groups, sometimes missing the cut-off criteria by one or two students.
Calhoun High has failed to meet AYP four of the last five years. The middle school is included with the high school in considering outcomes.
With Westest standards increased in WV for 2009-10, 131 schools in the Mountain State failed to meet them, but State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine said there was a significant improvement with the outcomes in most state schools.
Taylor says CM-HS met the graduation rate standards required by No Child Left Behind criteria, and Arnoldsburg and Pleasant Hill Elementary schools met all the AYP standards.
Superintendent Roger Propst has said he believes in high standards, but he would like to see the system focus on rewarding improved outcomes, indicating this could be the last year for the AYP system, part of No Child Left Behind.
Propst said,"The bottom didn't fall out last year, the participation rates changed."
CM-HS principal Karen Kirby said, "Although we failed to make AYP, there has been a significant improvement in ACT scores by Calhoun students." ACT is used for college entrance.
"Student scores went up," on the national test, she said. At CM-HS the number of students taking the ACT doubled between 2007-10.
Board member Cynthia Dale said she would like to see special recognition for students who distinguished themselves on the Westest, and some kind of special recognition for their teachers.
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