The number of Hawaii schools eligible for extreme state intervention under federal guidelines went up by one this year, according to a preliminary report released today.

Despite rising student scores and the fact that more schools are in good standing — 49 percent met federal goals this year versus 36 last year — 92 schools have been sanctioned for “Restructuring” under federal No Child Left Behind regulations for repeated failure to meet annual achievement targets. Last year 91 schools were on the list.

Interim Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi praised educators for the “substantial increase” in the number of schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress standards.

“Given the high benchmarks and multiple criteria required under AYP goals, this is something that should be truly celebrated,” she said.

Only five high schools and seven combination schools (intermediate and high school grades combined) met the AYP targets this year.

The state school district may choose from five options when restructuring schools, according to the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, which held a contract with the U.S. Department of Education to help schools and districts with school reform. The options are:

  • Reopen the school as a public charter school
  • Replace all or most of the school staff, including the principal
  • Enter into a contract with an entity like a private management company to operate the school
  • Allow the state to take over the school
  • Engage in other major restructuring of the school’s governance

The Hawaii Department of Education today released results of the 2010 Hawaii State Assessment, administered to roughly 92,500 students in the spring of this school year. The results are used to determine the status of schools.

Adequate Yearly Progress Trends

Here is a list of all schools by their AYP status, broken down by complex.

What it means to support Civil Beat.

Supporting Civil Beat means you’re investing in a newsroom that can devote months to investigate corruption. It means we can cover vulnerable, overlooked communities because those stories matter. And, it means we serve you. And only you.

Donate today and help sustain the kind of journalism Hawaiʻi cannot afford to lose.

About the Author