CANYON COUNTY — Two-thirds of Idaho public schools met statewide student achievement goals this year, up from just one-fourth of Idaho schools two years ago.

Locally, officials in the Nampa, Caldwell and Vallivue school districts applauded efforts that have improved academic performance. State Superintendent Tom Luna pointed to the achievement advances as a critical step.

"This is a great day for Idaho. We have raised the bar, and more Idaho students are rising to the challenge," Luna said. "I commend all of Idaho's talented educators, dedicated parents and hardworking students for their achievements. We will continue to raise the bar and strive to ensure every student is prepared to succeed in the 21st century."

Under the No Child Left Behind law, Idaho is required to calculate and report the adequate yearly progress of every public school, based on results of the Idaho Standards Achievement Test. The ISAT is a statewide standardized test that measures student performance in reading, math and language in grades three to eight and 10.

During the 2008-09 school year, 432 public schools made progress goals during the most recent school year, up from 363 schools the previous year. In the 2006-07 school year, just 168 schools met those goals.

To make adequate yearly progress, a school must meet statewide student achievement goals in 41 different target areas during a given school year. The 41 targets include students in the entire school, students with disabilities, students with limited English proficiency and students from low-income families.

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Local schools explain improvementsstrauss@idahopress.com

Officials at Canyon County's largest school districts pointed to improvements in meeting academic progress goals this year.

To make adequate yearly progress, a school must meet statewide student achievement goals in 41 different target areas during a given school year.

The 41 targets in reading, math and language include students in the entire school, students with disabilities, students with limited English proficiency and students from low-income families.

Here's a look at how local school districts and individual schools fared:

Caldwell School District

Did the district as a whole make adequate yearly progress for 2008-09?

No

Why not?

Students in two categories — limited-English proficiency and students with disabilities — did not meet math proficiency levels.

How did individual schools score?

Canyon Springs Alternative High School and five elementary schools — Lincoln, Sacajawea, Van Buren, Washington and Wilson — made adequate yearly progress in 2008-09.

These schools did not: Caldwell High, Jefferson and Syringa middle schools, Lewis and Clark Elementary

School district reaction: "We are super-excited with our AYP results because three years ago, zero of our 10 schools made AYP. Last year, five out of 10 made AYP and this year six of the 10 schools made AYP. So that's incredible progress in the past three years," Caldwell School District information director Jennifer Swindell said. "The No. 1 solution to student success is hiring and retaining quality teachers and we've been able to do that...We had a very low turnover in teachers this year. We've been improving. We know exactly which areas we need to work on and we feel very confident that we will."

She added: "Caldwell High School did not make AYP, but they were very, very close.... Of the six schools that made it, Canyon Springs made it for the second year in a row, which is an amazing feat — in the years past these are kids that had not found success. Van Buren made it for the second year in a row. Eighty-nine percent of that population qualifies for a free or reduced lunch program, which means they are below the poverty line. They are some of the most disadvantaged kids in the state. One of the most impoverished school in the state, and our alternative school (made it). We believe that if they can make it, anyone can make AYP."

Nampa School District

Did the district as a whole make adequate yearly progress for 2008-09?

No

Why not?

Students in three categories — Hispanic, limited-English proficiency and students with disabilities — did not meet math proficiency levels.

How did individual schools score?

Four high schools — Columbia, Nampa, Ridgeline Alternative and Skyview — made adequate yearly progress. Idaho Arts Charter School and South Middle, as well as nine elementary schools — Centennial, Central, Greenhurst, Lake Ridge, Owyhee, Roosevelt, Snake River, Sunnyridge Elementary and Willow Creek Elementary made adequate yearly progress.

These schools did not: East Valley, Lone Star and West middle schools; Endeavor, Iowa, Parkridge, Reagan and Sherman elementary schools; Nampa Teen Parent Alternative.

School district reaction: "For two high schools, Skyview and Nampa, they've been working hard to improve and they made it out of improvement status. They are very happy to have made it and no longer be in improvement status. They worked hard to improve achievement. We had strong gains overall in reading, but Endeavor, Sherman and South had double-digit improvements in reading. It's interesting because Endeavor and Sherman didn't make AYP — Sherman missed it by one goal. (Meeting AYP goals) is all or nothing — we encourage parents to take a look and see how they did. We had schools that missed it by one goal, we had four schools move out of improvement status, we have seven that will move out of improvement status," district spokeswoman Allison Westfall said.

She added: "Our schools have a strong emphasis on professional development, so they're studying what research says are the best strategies for improving achievement for students who struggle, and other strategies that help improve achievement for all students. Our focus is making sure that all schools are successful."

Vallivue School District

Did the district as a whole make adequate yearly progress for 2008-09?

Yes

How did individual schools score?

Birch, Central, Desert Springs, East Canyon, Lakevue and West Canyon elementary schools made adequate yearly progress, as did Thomas Jefferson Charter School, Vallivue Alternative and Vallivue High.

Two middle schools did not: Sage Valley and Vallivue

School district reaction: "We're thrilled with our results. We are very happy and it's just evidence of outstanding efforts of our teachers, principals and support by the board. We had 8 of our 10 schools make AYP, and our district. And a ninth school — Sage Valley Middle — only missed in one category by four-tenths of a percent. They were so close," Gary Johnston, federal programs and assessment director for Vallivue School District, said.

He added: "We're proud that as a large school district we could make AYP for the second year in a row. Our plan is to work together as a team and to continue what we're doing, to take a good look at what we can improve, what is it we can change and make better. We're just going to review everything and continue to move forward. We're excited about our results. It's evidence to us we are on the right track. We're also proud of adding more AP classes in the high school and accelerated course work in middle and elementary schools in reading and math. We're really trying to meet all students' needs."

Performance at other schoolsThese other area schools also met adequate yearly progress goals:

Melba School District: No

• Melba Elementary School: No
• Melba Middle School: No
• Melba High School: Yes

Middleton School District: No

• Middleton Heights Elementary: Yes
• Mill Creek Elementary: Yes
• Purple Sage Elementary: Yes
• Middleton Middle School: No
• Middleton High School: No

Notus School District: Yes

• Notus Elementary School: Yes
• Notus Junior-Senior High School: Yes

Parma School District: No

• Maxine Johnson Elementary School: Yes
• Parma Middle School: No
• Parma High School: Yes

Wilder School District: No

• Homes Elementary School: No
• Wilder Junior-Senior High School: Yes

Liberty Charter School: Yes

Victory Charter School: Yes

Vision Charter School: Yes

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