After being rated as “commendable” last year, Phillip C. Showell Elementary School regained “superior” status when the state released its ratings Aug. 2, about two weeks after the release of the 2006 Delaware Student Testing Program scores were released on July 20.
Showell was one of 11 district schools — there are 15 in all — to receive the state’s highest marking on the rate structure, setting an Indian River record for the period since the inception of the program in 2001.
As far as the area’s high schools, Indian River High School was rated “commendable,” while Sussex Central High School was placed under “academic review.” Ratings are based on a school’s adequate yearly progress (AYP), a state education department calculation that determines annual progress of a school.
“To have 11 of our schools rated as superior is a truly remarkable accomplishment,” new District Superintendent Dr. Susan Bunting said in a press release after receiving the ratings. “Of course, none of this would have been possible without the efforts of our dedicated teachers and staff. I would … like to acknowledge the staff of Phillip C. Showell Elementary for its efforts in returning the school to the Superior level following a Commendable classification in 2005.”
Frankford, Georgetown, Lord Baltimore and North Georgetown elementary schools, along with Southern Delaware School of the Arts, Selbyville Middle School, Sussex Central Middle School and Howard T. Ennis, also received “superior” ratings on the 2006 test.
According to a district release after the test scores were made public, Indian River third-graders ranked first in the state in reading — a ranking that was highlighted by Showell’s performance. Some 85 percent of Phillip C. Showell’s third-graders met the standard on the reading test, as compared to only 61 percent last year.
“We were very pleased at the gains that our students showed in some areas,” Ivan Neal, Phillip C. Showell’s principal, said in an earlier interview. Neal was on vacation this week and couldn’t be reached for a reaction to the school’s return to “superior” status. “We feel like, overall, our students showed some progress. We were pleased with that.”
In other highlights from the 2006 test, Frankford Elementary, where almost 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, 98 percent of third-graders met or exceeded the standard on the reading test. More than 95 percent of its fifth-graders met or exceeded the standard on the reading test, as well.
More than 92 percent of Frankford’s third-graders met or exceeded the standard on the math test and 91.2 percent of its fifth-graders did the same.
Southern Delaware School of the Arts (SDSA) had 98 percent of its fifth graders meet the standard in the math test. Lord Baltimore achieved that same percentile.
For more information about the accountability structure visit the state department of education’s Web site at www.doe.k12.de.us.