Lincoln Elementary School students have a tough task ahead of them this month — at least in the state’s eyes.
The third-, fourth- and fifth-grade classes begin their annual State Assessment Tests today.
And while Principal Larry Hart is confident they’ll do well, it’s highly unlikely they’ll receive the same state recognition students in those classes earned last spring.
It’s not that this year’s students are struggling in the classroom, Hart said.
But even if they earn scores identical to last year — which were good enough to earn Lincoln “Standard of Excellence” awards in math, reading and science — that may not be enough to pass muster in the state’s eyes, Hart said.
That’s because of the increasingly high bar they have to meet to adhere to federal No Child Left Behind standards, which call for 100-percent proficiency or above scores by the end of the 2014 school year.
“It’s that much tougher to climb above those standards,” Hart said. “Every year our odds go down because the same requirements are higher.”
Hart anticipates a state waiver at some point as state and federal lawmakers decide whether No Child Left Behind has reached the end of its usefulness.
Even with the long odds, there was little to dampen the students’ enthusiasm in a pep rally Monday.
Iola High School’s cheerleading squad and marching band members were on hand to offer encouragement to the youngsters, while teachers sported plaquards encouraging the students to get plenty of sleep in the coming days, eat healthy breakfasts and buckle down in their studies.
According to Hart, the biggest challenge, aside from the ever-higher test standards, is for Lincoln’s third-graders, who have not been exposed to State Assessment Tests prior to this yar.
“They’re just now getting exposed to learning from computers, and now they’re taking these tests,” he said. “It all comes down to how quickly they learn how to take these tests.”
State Assessments are critical to schools and how they are accredited. Schools that fail to meet “adequate yearly progress” by increasing their assessment scores could be subject to losing their accreditation.
None of the USD 257 schools has come close to that scenario.
