Some schools in the Helena area performed better than others in a variety of categories, while others fell short of the state's rates, according to information recently released by the Office of Public Instruction.
According to OPI, OPI has released the district report card for the 2022-2023 school year pursuant to the Every Student Succeeds Act. This is an accessible way for OPI to show how Montana schools are working with their educational practices.
The data released Thursday shows percentages in progress scores in reading, math and science, and how the district's numbers compare to the state's numbers. The school district was not immediately available to comment on Friday's results.
The report card divides proficiency levels into four categories: Beginner, Near-Proficient, Expert, and Advanced. Data can be accessed by district and can be filtered to school-specific numbers.
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Other parts of the report card include state, district, and specific school progress rates in reading, math, and school attendance.
Student academic score
Among high school districts, Capital High School and Helena High School were more advanced in math and reading compared to the state.
In these two schools, 23% of students were certified as advanced in math, compared to 15% in the state.
In reading, the school had 32% of its population in the advanced column, compared to the state's 17%.
Capital High School had a 17% difference in the advanced section of reading, leaving the school with a score of 34%. Helena High School showed some signs of struggle, with a higher percentage of beginning students in science compared to the state and district.
Thirty percent of students were classified as beginning science students, compared to the district and state average of 26%.
The Helena Public Schools elementary school district is recorded by OPI as kindergarten through 8th grade, even though the high school and elementary school districts are separate for kindergarten through 5th grade and 6th grade through 12th grade, with a focus on math, reading, and science. It ranked almost on par with the state in these areas.
In math, 17% of students were in the advanced category, compared to the state rate of 15%, and in reading and science, 20% and 22% of the district's students were in the advanced category.
CR Anderson Middle School had strong reading and science proficiency scores, and math performance was in line with state and district averages.
The school's reading proficiency rate in the beginner category was about 15%, compared to 25% for the district and 30% for the state. This trend continues in science, where the school enrolls only 9% of the population as beginners, compared to 26% for the state and 16% for the district.
Thirty percent of the school's students were certified as advanced in science, compared to 22% in the district and 12% in the state.
Helena Middle School also performs similarly in math, reading, and science, with the majority of students achieving proficiency and advanced achievement in all three categories.
Bryant Elementary School and Broadwater Elementary School showed signs of internal student struggles in three subject areas compared to state and district averages.
At Bryant, 48% of students were beginners in math, 53% were beginners in reading, and 31% were beginners in science. At Broadwater, his 40% of students were rated beginners in math, 39% were proficient in reading, and most of his science students were rated near proficient.
Jefferson Elementary School stood out among the elementary schools with the least percentage of students ranked in the novice category and the highest percentage ranked in the advanced or proficient category for three subjects.
At the school, 50% of students were certified as proficient in reading, while only 5% were proficient in math and science and 10% were proficient in reading.
Student academic improvement score
OPI's data showed each elementary district and school's progress in reading and math, with small charts comparing the numbers when looking at individual schools to state rates and the district level.
High school district progress data shows the rate at which students graduate in four years and whether they are college or career ready.
In the Helena Public Schools High School District, 87% of students graduated within four years, compared to 85% in the state.
78% of Helena high school students were preparing for college or employment after graduation, 16% more than the state.
Specifically, at Capital High, 88% of students graduate in four years, and 84% of students are job- or college-ready upon graduation.
Helena High School was lower in both categories compared to its crosstown rivals, with 86% of students graduating in four years and 72% ready for work or college.
Fifty-one percent of elementary and middle school students showed progress in reading, with states showing similar percentages. Fifty-four percent of the K-12 population showed signs of progress in math, compared to 50 percent of the state's population.
Of the two middle schools in the Helena School District, CR Anderson made higher progress in reading and math than Helena Middle School, with 52% progress in reading and 61% progress in math, according to the data.
According to OPI data, at Bryant Elementary School, students showed 60% progress in reading comprehension, even though 53% of students were beginning readers.
At Hawthorne Elementary School, progress in reading and math is 60% mid to high, with most students achieving advanced or near proficiency in reading and science.
Continuing that remarkable trend, Jefferson Elementary School, which already had a low percentage of student achievement scores in the novice category, made more than 60 percent progress in math and reading.
Kessler Elementary School showed significant progress in reading proficiency at 77%, even though many of the school's students were in the beginner category in math, reading, and science.
attendance
Data provided by OPI records school attendance, with the majority of schools in the district having a 95% attendance rate during the 2022-2023 school year, with approximately 30% to 40% of students attending. Was.
In the high school district, 36% of students had a 95% attendance rate during the school year, compared to 33% for the state.
At Capital High School, 41% of students attended regularly, compared to just 30% at Helena High School.
Elementary school districts had an attendance rate of 95%, the same as the state's 33% and high school districts.
At CR Anderson, 33% of students attended consistently and at Helena Middle School, 37% of students attended.
In elementary schools, student attendance during the school year was between 30% and 45%.
Sonny Tapia is a criminal justice and education reporter for the Helena Independent Record.