Most county schools have plenty of room to improve

The day reports card come out at school is often rife with anxiety for students. Did I do as well as I think I did? In areas with room for improvement, did I succeed?

Students aren’t the only ones whose efforts are scrutinized. Public schools in Oklahoma are also under the microscope.

And several schools in Sequoyah County have areas in which they have plenty of room for improvement.

After a two-year hiatus granted by the U.S. Department of Education due to the pandemic, the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Office of Accountability has released school report cards for the 2021-22 school year.

Of the 25 county schools, 19 received overall grades of Cs and Ds.

Only Liberty Public School, Moffett Public School and Muldrow’s elementary, middle school and high school record- ed overall grades of B. While there were some areas for most schools in which they scored As and Bs, there were also as many areas for many schools in which they received Ds and Fs.

Chronic absenteeism was a recurring concern for all but a handful of schools.

County schools receiving overall grades of D were Belfonte Public School, Gans High School, Marble City Public School, Roland High School and Vian High School.

Schools with an overall grade of C, which is also the state average, were Brushy Public School, Central Elementary, Central High School, Gans Elementary, Gore Elementary, Gore Upper Elementary, Gore High School, Roland Elementary, Roland Middle School, Sallisaw Eastside Elementary, Sallisaw Middle School, Sallisaw High School, Vian Elementary, Vian Middle School and Vian High School. Nearby Webbers Falls, in Muskogee County, received an overall grade of C for its elementary and high school.

Schools were graded in as many as five categories, which resulted in the overall grade. The graded categories were:

• Academic achievement, which measured how prepared students were for the next grade, course or level

• Graduation (for high schools), which was a determination of how well the school supported students at graduating in four, five or six years

• Academic growth (for elementary and middle schools), which measured student growth compared to their performance the previous year

• English language proficiency progress, which grades whether English learners were meeting their language-acquisition targets

• Chronic absenteeism, which measures the percentage of students with good attendance

• Postsecondary opportunities, which is a determination of how well schools helped students gain early college and career exposure Addressing the elephant in the classroom, more than two-thirds of the 25 county schools received Ds or Fs for chronic absenteeism. Only five schools earned As in the same category. In short, students either don’t want to go to school, or schools are failing to properly motivate them to attend. Unfortunately, the statewide score for absenteeism is a D, so it is not a problem unique to Sequoyah County.

While the report card sheds light on how many schools must improve to meet their obligation to their students and the community, Muldrow appears to have found a successful formula. All three campuses received As for chronic absenteeism. Safe for a D for English language proficiency progress on the elementary level, Muldrow schools earned more As and Bs than Cs.

“I am very proud of the overall report card that we received at Muldrow School,” said Muldrow Superintendent Clifta Fugett. “I don’t think that this report gives the overall picture of any school, but I do think that this score provides data on the areas in which we are doing well, as well as the data on places where we can grow as a school.

“Rebounding from the pandemic has been especially hard on schools. The learning loss that students suffered is real. Our teachers have worked tirelessly to determine where the losses have been, and then developed and implemented plans to fill the gaps. Working as a team, our teachers have planned cooperatively and become experts at ‘thinking outside the box.’ I truly believe we have a great staff at Muldrow School.

“Our grade in chronic absenteeism is a result of a commitment among the teachers, our office staff and the administration. The definition of chronic absenteeism is when a student misses more than 10% of the days in which they are enrolled. It stands to reason that if students are absent for this amount of time, learning loss will occur. It is imperative that our offices and teachers work cooperatively with parents and communicate the importance of attendance. While we realize that there are times that students miss when it simply can’t be helped, it is also important to understand the clear path to success begins with students in school.”

Liberty Public School also paced county schools with an overall grade of B. But Liberty Superintendent Chris Michael tempered his enthusiasm for how well the school fared, and noted that many factors go into determining the state report cards.

“We are proud of the hard work our students and staff have put in over the last few years. Some of that is reflected in the grade shown on our school’s report card,” Michael said.

“However, I would encourage families to make decisions based on local classroom data, such as weekly assignments, assessments and quarterly benchmarks to determine student mastery of concepts. These data points are good indicators of achievement and growth, and how well a school is serving students and the community. This information is far more valuable to our district than a snapshot of results from a single state mandated test.”

Among the many schools struggling to overcome chronic absenteeism and improve their standing in this category, Marble City Public School is taking aggressive measures to reinforce the importance of student attendance.

“Marble City Public School has and will continue to utilize data from our school report card to address targets for growth throughout the district,” said Marble City Superintendent Wade Stafford. “Our most glaring target for growth is in regards to chronic absenteeism. After looking at the data from other schools in the county and across the state, this is not an issue that is unique to Marble City Public School.” Indeed, the state average is also a D.

“We have held parent/guardian meetings to discuss the importance of student attendance. We have incorporated different attendance-based incentives and, as a last resort, have referred attendance issues to the District Court and the Cherokee Nation Department of Juvenile Justice. As a result of these efforts, we are beginning to see an improvement in student attendance,” Stafford said.

Of particular note is that Sallisaw High School received an F for chronic absenteeism as well as for graduation. Along the same lines, Brushy Public School and Central Elementary were given Ds for academic growth, and Webbers Falls High School received a D for graduation.

The two most successful schools were Muldrow Middle School and Moffett Public School. Muldrow Middle School received As and Bs in all categories, and Moffett earned Bs across the board.

Of the eight county and area high schools, seven received a C for postsecondary opportunities, while Webbers Falls High School earned a B.

Statewide, schools received Bs for academic growth and English language proficiency progress, Cs for academic achievement and postsecondary opportunities, and Ds for chronic absenteeism and graduation.

An opportunity to comment about their schools’ grades was extended to superintendents Randy Wood for Sallisaw, Lori Wiggins for Roland, John Brockman for Vian, Larry Calloway for Gans and Lance Stuart for Moffett. They did not respond as of press time.