Clovis schools show improvement in reading, math

Improvement, however big or small, is a good thing, according to Clovis and Portales school officials.

The Clovis and Portales school districts flunked in the category of growth of lowest performing students in the new state School Grading System for school districts but saw overall improvements in math and reading.

"Our scores are better overall this year," said Portales schools superintendent Randy Fowler. "We saw increases in our levels of proficiency at most grade levels and improvement in reading at all grade levels but one."

As opposed to basing the system on a single test score as the Adequate Yearly Progress grading system did, the new school grades are calculated using at least three years' worth of data (whenever possible) in areas of academic growth, attendance, support of both the highest and lowest performing students and college and career readiness.

According to a press release from the state Governor's Office, AYP federal ratings would have labeled nearly 98 percent of New Mexico's schools as "failing" this year, with little useful information to differentiate between schools based on growth or proficiency.

Under the new system, all but 69 of the states 831 schools passed, although 250 got Ds and 275 got Cs. Only 39 received an A, while 198 got Bs.

Education Secretary Hanna Skandera says the new system enables the state to more clearly evaluate what needs to be done to help schools improve.

With being compared to the state average, Portales schools improved in math and reading from AYP standards while Clovis had a variety of letter grade scores in the same area.

"Overall, eight of our schools increased by at least one letter grade, five school grades remained the same and three decreased," Clovis superintendent Terry Myers said, comparing to the grading system's trial run held in January. "We are pleased with the overall scores we have received. They indicate great improvement for the majority of our schools."

Curry County schools which received an overall letter grade of A were Zia Elementary and Melrose Middle School.

Dora Elementary and Elida High School in Roosevelt County schools also received As.

Fowler said he was also pleased with the overall scores for Portales schools.

"I'm pleased that we show improvement from last year (compared to state standards)," he said. "That is our goal is to continually improve and I do see that we are doing that, so I'm very pleased."

Other Curry and Roosevelt County school districts also scored high overall with improvements in math and reading but low with growth of lowest performing students with Dora Elementary and Floyd Middle School being the only schools scoring above a C letter grade.

Elida and Floyd high schools were the only local high schools to score above a C letter grade in college and career readiness.

"A grade of a C is a good mark with this accountability system. If you receive an A or a B, you are doing exceptional," Myers said. "Why we are so pleased, as a district, is we saw a percentage improvement over last year with math and reading."

"As we get our district scores as compared to the state level, our comments might change," he added. "It's brand new information to us too, but it appears we've done well as far as the accountability system is concerned. We're certainly not satisfied with the progress we've made but we are pleased that we have made progress. There is still room for improvement here and we are going to work even harder to improve next year."