Gladstone Schools achieve passing grade

GLADSTONE - The Gladstone School Board was informed Tuesday during a special meeting how well students and schools of the district performed. Michigan has released its report card grades for each school in the state.

Jones and Cameron elementary schools each earned an "A" rating while the middle and high schools earned a "B" rating from the state.

All four schools met the adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements as outlined in the federal No Child Left Behind mandate.

Under the No Child Left Behind mandate, all students are required to reach high standards or at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading and mathematics by the 2013-14 school year.

"For a public school or district to make AYP, they must have at least a 95 percent participation rate in statewide assessments, and must also meet other academic requirements set by the state," said Lori Wells, who is the media service director for Gladstone schools.

Cameron Elementary School, which tested its third-grade students earned an A grade for the 2007-08 school year, in addition to meeting the AYP requirements. Also earning an A grade was James T. Jones Elementary School, which tested students in third through sixth grades. It also met the state's AYP requirements.

Gladstone Middle School, which tested students in sixth through eighth grades, earned a B grade, and also met the AYP requirements. Gladstone High School also earned a B, testing students in the 11th grade.

They also met the AYP requirements.

Serving as the basis for calculating the AYP score, the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) test and the Michigan Merit Exam were used.

Scores for individual grades in math and reading were:

l Third-grade math, 95 percent; reading, 91 percent.

l Fourth-grade math, 94 percent; reading, 91 percent.

l Fifth-grade math, 59 percent; reading, 87 percent.

l Sixth-grade math, 81 percent; reading, 90 percent.

l Seventh-grade math, 80 percent; reading 84 percent.

l Eighth-grade math, 70 percent; reading, 81 percent.

l 11th-grade math, 63 percent; reading, 68 percent.

"Escanaba and Iron Mountain Schools did not meet the AYP requirements for the 2007-08 school year," said Wells.

"Not all schools meet AYP requirements."

Gladstone Superintendent Jay Kulbertis said the district would use the information at each grade level and each building to identify the gaps and see what areas are having problems and the district would work to close those gaps.

"We are teaching more than we ever have before, requiring us to hit more and more benchmarks," said Kulbertis.

According to Wells, each school should have a 100 percent proficiency by 2013.