Hawaii school officials have said they are not satisfied with the academic performance of public school students on statewide assessments after lack of growth, a report said.
The annual Strive HI progress report was presented to the state Board of Education Thursday revealing a stagnant proficiency rate in math and a slight decline in language arts and science, the Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
"Any time there is a lack of a positive trajectory, it means we have to work harder as a system," said Donna Kagawa, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instructional design.
Academic achievement was highest in language arts with 54% of students marking proficient this year, 1 percentage point below last year, the report said. Math proficiency remained at 43% for the third straight year and science proficiency fell from 46% to 44% this year.
Strive HI includes individual reports for each school so educators and families can examine in detail how they are doing, and adjust and learn from each other, officials said.
"The most critical thing we can do for our students is make sure the learning they experience is rigorous, is real-world and is applied," said schools Superintendent Christina Kishimoto. "I treat the assessments as one measure of many that we have to look at."
The report also showed an increase in high school students taking college-level courses and completing career and technical education programs, school officials said.
