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GRADING OUR SCHOOLS: About this report

This year's edition of Grading Our Schools offers scores only for tests taken in spring 2006. The state changed its tests from previous years and expanded testing to third though eighth grades and one year in high school. As a result, this year's scores cannot be compared to previous years'.

  • Test experts say it is best to compare a school against itself over time or against schools with similar demographics because higher poverty and mobility rates translate into greater challenges for educators.

  • We've included what percentage of a school's students are considered low-income. Poverty has long been shown to influence how well a student will perform in school. Still, experts caution that poverty does not make low performance inevitable, just as wealth doesn't make success certain.

  • Educators say the test results shouldn't be the only measure used to judge school quality. Parents should use assessment results along with other factors: performance of graduates, observable quality of a student's work and other tests. Visiting a school and talking to teachers can give parents information to judge quality, too.

  • The report includes public school districts in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties, the Wichita Catholic Diocese schools, Holy Cross Lutheran School and the Independent School in Wichita. Many private schools, including Wichita Collegiate, choose not to be accredited by the state and do not administer the tests.

  • The scores in this report could differ from those shared with parents by schools. Those scores reflect students who were enrolled by Sept. 20 but don't include students who moved in after that date or were suspended for 10 days or more. The scores in this report reflect all students enrolled at the time of the tests..

  • If parents have not received their child's scores, they should contact their child's school principal or the district office. A school's average scores and other information are also available on the Kansas Department of Education's Web site, www.ksde.org. Look for "Building Report Card" on the right.

How to get copies

Additional copies of Grading Our Schools are available for $1.50 cents each at the customer service counter of The Wichita Eagle, 825 E. Douglas Ave.

Staff

This report was prepared by Katie Lohrenz, Icess Fernandez and Kevin McGrath.

Photos were provided by Mike Hutmacher.

The section was designed by Coryanne Graham.