KINGMAN - As with the elementary and middle schools, local high schools also suffered in the most recent Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) tests. And like the elementary and middle schools, math scores were the biggest casualties.
The percent of tenth-grade students who meet or exceed the state standard for math proficiency dropped at both of Kingman's public high schools, as well as at Mt. Tipton school in Dolan Springs. All three schools now fall below the statewide average, which also fell from 70 percent in 2009 to 58 percent in 2010.
Kingman High School's drop closely mirrored the statewide drop, with passing scores falling from 60 percent to 47. Mt. Tipton's scores likewise fell 9 points from 31 to 20 - an overall drop of 26 points from the school's 2008 level.
As with the elementary and middle school scores, Kingman Unified School District Assessment Director Gretchen Dorner said the drops could be attributed to a new set of state math standards that placed greater emphasis on higher-level concepts that many high school sophomores simply weren't prepared for.
"Numerical operations were reduced and the geometry section increased," Dorner said. "And if you think about it, most students take algebra as a freshman and geometry as a sophomore. So if 20 percent of he AIMS test is on geometry and you're only halfway through your geometry year, that's going to be a problem."
Dorner said KHS is now working to determine ways of introducing geometry and algebra at earlier stages in the typical student's education. She added that teachers and administrators are already dissecting the most recent test results to learn which aspects of geometry and algebra they need to focus on more intensely in the classroom.
Perhaps the biggest shock came at the Kingman Academy of Learning, whose tenth-graders posted a drop of 22 points in math, falling from 74 percent passing to just 52 percent - 6 points below the state average. District Administrator Susan Chan said the changing standards were partially to blame for the drop, though she also noted that KAOL has a larger-than-average contingent of special-needs students, which may also have contributed to the drop.
"All of those students, with the exception of a few, are required to take grade-level AIMS tests even when they're not working at grade level," Chan said. "We also have a lot of students who enter our high school that are not exposed to geometry before they take the AIMS test as sophomores."
Chan said the district plans to work on ensuring that students are placed in the right classes to start with, which she said would give them the knowledge basis they would need to eventually do the higher-level work on the AIMS test.
"We want to give them that background knowledge," she said.
She added that the district will be looking at the concepts students did not do well on, with the hope of possibly introducing them at an earlier time so students can understand them before the test comes in April.
Local high schools also gave back some of the gains they made in reading in 2009, even as the statewide average rose 3 percent to 77. KHS tenth-graders saw their scores fall 1 point to 72 percent, while KAOL saw scores drop 8 points to 76. Mt. Tipton saw an even greater drop of 15 points to 52 percent, though the school's relatively small size leaves it prone to such sharp changes, since each individual student has a much greater affect on the overall percentage score.
Each high school fared better on the writing portion of the test this year, with KHS posting a six-point gain, to 67 percent, and KAOL posting a two-point gain, to 65. Mt. Tipton also saw another characteristically sharp gain of 24 points, to 67 percent. Statewide, tenth-grade writing scores improved by 1 point, to 73 percent.
After seeing big gains last year, AIMS science scores dropped slightly, with KHS falling 2 points to 33 percent, KAOL 1 point to 23 percent and Mt. Tipton 3 points to 30 percent. Statewide, the average rose 1 point to 35 percent passing. It should be noted that passing the science test is not yet a requirement for high school students to receive a diploma - something that cannot be said for the reading, writing and math portions of the test.
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Article comment by:
Sampson .
@ Who cares: Your comment that it is the responsibility of the test taker is right on the mark.
Everyone else: Many parents aren't equipped to explain things their kids didn't understand at school. One thing responsible parents can always do is explain to their kids that learning is always a personal responsibility. The circumstances they face as a child in the school system aren't that much different from what they will face as an adult in college or in the working world. They have to learn how to excel, or at least hold their own, in adverse situations. They need to learn how to draw on their own strengths and depend on themselves to learn what they need to know so they can take themselves where they want to be in life.
A child's teachers in the public school system are only one set of their tools for learning. If those tools aren't working, find a different tool. Consider breaking out the mindset that only a professional teacher can teach our children. Explain to your children that anyone who can impart the knowledge they need is a teacher - just look around. Most everyone knows someone they admire for their skill or knowledge in something – math, science, history, literature. Ask those people to explain things to your child if you can't. Try a tutor. Try a different teacher at the school. What about their friends? Try a different text book. Look for more info at the public library. Look things up on the internet. There are many sources of knowledge out there, lots of tools show children how to recognize how many tools are at their disposal. Back that up by the love and encouragement of solid parenting, and they will learn to self compensate for what they didn’t get at public school. They will also develop tremendous self confidence. It requires more effort on parents and students, but it’s that or join the ranks of the crybabies who just look to the public schools to teach their kids everything about the world and themselves.
The saddest thing, however, is a parent who just doesn’t care. I don’t think the best teachers in the world can overcome the damage that happens when a child has irresponsible parents. As a community we need to quit expecting our teachers to fix all the troubled kids and figure out how to prevent the conditions that lead to broken families and the poor academic performance that is one symptom of that. Teachers and the school system take a disproportionate share of the verbal lashings because they are the easiest group to blame. Undoing some of our societal ills is obviously much more difficult.
Before I end I want to plug the Mohave County Library system. With an internet connection and a library card anyone can access their Brain Fuse link and go live with a tutor on any subject FOR FREE. My kids have found it very helpful and I have no doubt using it has helped them. One aspect I particularly like about it is that if the first tutor isn't getting through to my kids, the tutors often recognize that and get a different tutor on the line that explains things a different way. I’ve even used it myself for some college classes a few times.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
someone in arizona
There are some students who do not care and are not pushing themselves and have no one pushing them either. But I do think that there is a problem with the funding. Look at the payroll difference between a teacher and an administrator. How can you ask someone to have that much education and pay them that little? What motivation are the teachers given as well? The teachers are the ones who are "in the trenches" so to speak. God knows i wasn't the easiest one to work with. But they managed. Most of the teachers i know have to work on the side to be able to make both ends meet. but i guess the good thing is we have all these new schools right.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
No Name
Perhaps now is not the time to let the cat out of the bag but how many of you know that desk have math books not students. Is it any wonder the parents are writing and complaining that they can not help their students. How in the world can they? With a finite number of books available its next to impossible for the students to get a book to use. My children have gone to KUSD and I often wondered why they had so little real book work until I found out that there are none available. Just like the person said its time to hold the Board accountable for what they are doing and its as much our fault as parents for allowing this to happen. Where are you when the board votes to only buy a classroom set of text books instead of one for every child? Last time I checked it is our kids taking the test not the desk. Wake up and smell the coffee people we are all as much to blame for what has happened. There is plenty of blame to go around. Stand up take your blame and do something about it. Every school in the district failed the math portion of the AIMS or so their scores pummel. There is something at foot here and more needs to be asked and also asked at the AZ Department of Ed.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Who Cares?
There is nothing wrong with any of the school boards, school administrations or staff and faculty in any of the schools represented in this article. The responsibility lies with the test takers (students) to care about doing their best. And right now in today's student population there are just enough under-achievers with "I don't care attitudes" to affect the test results negatively. When main-streaming and no-child-left-behind concepts were not legislated and students were grouped and taught according to their ability to learn, those graduating moved on into the future equiped to function in the adult world or continue their education at universities. Social promotion was not considered an option and the possibility of not advancing to the next grade level was a marginal student's motivating factor in learning the material. As it stands, the schools are being held hostage by the test scores. This concept of making the school accountable for the underperformance of disinterested students is counterproductive.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Kingman Parent
The thing to look at here is the comparison with the state averages. All Arizona's schools took the same test. And if you study the scores, yes, they are lower but not that far off from prior years comparitively speaking. Also it is unfair to compare a Mt. Tipton that has to deal with the lower echelon of society with a KAOL which attracts more of the elite parent- involved community. Now, if you want to get to a specific target, it would behoove KAOL to take a close look at it's science. That one is really out of whack.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
W M
I went to high school at KAHS, took Calculus my senior year, and now on route to graduate from the U of A with a Mathematics Education degree in 2012. I have been working with high school students and teachers for the past three years and have also noticed a drop in overall test scores just in everyday class. Have the standards changed? Yes. Should that matter? No. From what I have noticed from both my own high school experience and from my observations is that the end goal will always remain the same: To understand the meaning of Math. If you go into about 90% of today's math classrooms I bet you will find a teacher standing in the front of the room giving a long drawn out lecture about a specific mathematical technique that must be used on a standardized test, i.e. AIMS. After the teacher explains and examples the technique the students are required to practice practice practice whether they do or not is a whole another story. Either way, the students are memorizing techniques instead of learning the reasons why it works or why to use it. Don't get me wrong, most of the time it is not the teacher's fault. But what else can you expect when you are forced to conform your own teaching style to meet standards. And even though they might have changed the wording, the standards are the same today as they were years ago "Students must be able to perform this task." Instead of, "Students must be able to understand and explain a task." A lot of students can recite volume and area formulas, but only a handful can tell you why.
I understand that standards are important and testing is crucial, but be sure to test towards the end goal, not temporary techniques that will be forgotten by time the students get home from school.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Larry Fine
I don"t think you can blame President Obama and illegal aliens for these horrible test scores.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
only getting worse
I spent three hours at high school today with my senior. They could not offer her the advanced classes she wanted some had been dropped from the school and she was told that she could take the classes she needs to graduate high school at the college since they could not find room in her schedule for core classes. Really what is my tax money being spent on if I have to pay for my high school student to go to mcc just to graduate. khs is a joke of a school and I am sorry my children have to go there. That is why the kids cannot pass the aims. Lack of quality education.
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
H Young
@ Nice Chuckle
Obviously, you have no idea what you are talking about and throwing around slander is just part of your ploy to throw off what is really going on at the high school. So... let's back up with some facts.
First: I don't drink and neither does my family., but I will give you that we have had the occasional sandwich for dinner because our lives are too busy.
Second: My child is graduating in the top 10% of the class at KHS and has an offer of a scholarship to a university - no thanks to any guidance counselor at the school. In fact, my child is overlooked by the guidance counselor's office.
Third: Not only do I help my child with their homework - I volunteer at KHS and also help other students maintain their academic eligibility - my own time, at my own home and because I'm not only concerned about my child, but because these students do not have the support that they need from their own homes - this is not the child's fault.
Fourth: Both my husband and I work at full time jobs and have more than one child in the school district. I could go on, but I'll stop here since you don't know me - too bad you didn't put your name.
So, are you the administrator who is sitting back having "the chuckle" because you know that you are over paid, or are you the double-dipper who likes to hire coaches from outside the area only to have them last a year maybe two and hurt our student athletes in the process?
I could go on, but the school board determines and sets the policies by which the KHS administration acts. You might want to read the KUSD policy manual on the district's website. The school board members are OUR elected officials. They accept the pink slipping of employees every Spring. They approve the budget and expenditures. They should be held accountable - just like you want me to be accountable.
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
Concerned Parent
The article about the scores for the High School and the other schools really concerns me.With the lay offs and cut hours of some of the hardest working people at KUSD#20, it makes me wonder if the Board of Education really looked at the right people to let go.I have a student that works very hard at the High School to keep up her A s and I am wondering if maybe Arizona school are really the place she needs to be? It hasn't gotten any better since we first got here from the South,but at least we could say her education was in the top 20 of all the 50 states counted.Maybe there should be a complete overhaul of the Board of Education.They still have thier jobs and nothing has improved..
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
DaveG- NoLastNames
Does the school systems have to be hit with a baseball bat, in order to realize that their "new math" teaching system is not working and hasn't worked from the time it was introduced.
It's almost like....hmm...they want math dummies!
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
Nice Chuckle
@H Young
Instead of blaming the school board and the school, how about putting down that sandwich, the beer, and getting off the internet rants to help your child study and do their homework? Think that might help too?
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
H Young
KHS test scores have tumbled again. When are we going to get rid of the leadership at the high school? When no one can pass a test? Enough is enough. The school board has three members up for re-election: Goodale, Carlin and Lucero. They may be nice members of the community, but are children deserve better! What is our next Kingman generation going to be?
And, I don't care if they changed standards, why didn't the schools change too?! Why are we being reactive all the time?
