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PARCC test results show student growth across the board

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GMCS students more than doubled the state average

Gallup-McKinley County Schools recently received the results for the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career tests.

Those results were shared during the GMCS Board of Education July 15 regular meeting. GMCS District Assistant Superintendent Gerald Horacek spoke about the results, thanking parents and staff for their part in the students’ achievements.

“It is important to have support from the board and superintendent to have the results we’ve shown,” Horacek said. “Without us working together, we wouldn’t be able to present what we’ve done the past several years.”

For the 2018 school year, GMCS students were number one in the state in English Language Arts proficiency growth out of the 10 largest districts, and number three in math proficiency growth out of the 10 largest districts.

This means GMCS students more than doubled the state average in proficiency growth.

“Your support makes this possible,” Horacek said. “These are pretty powerful results and impressive growth.”

According to the presentation, student proficiency in ELA has risen over nine percent since 2017, while student proficiency in math has risen over three percent in that same span.

What this means is GMCS has about 1,100 more students proficient in math or ELA since 2016, Horacek said.

The presentation broke down the schools with the most proficiency growth in the past year. The data was sorted by elementary school, middle school, and high school results.

For ELA in elementary schools, the top five schools were Twin Lakes, Lincoln, Indian Hills, Tobe Turpen, and Ramah. The proficiency growth rate for these schools was between 6 and 15 percent.

The top five elementary schools for math proficiency growth were Twin Lakes, Indian Hills, Tobe Turpen, Thoreau, and Jefferson. The growth rate for these schools was between 6 and 13 percent.

As for middle schools, Gallup Middle School, John F. Kennedy Middle School, and Chief Manuelito Middle School showed the most proficiency growth over the past year, ranging from about 3 to 6 percent.

For math proficiency, the top two schools were John F. Kennedy Middle School with a 5.95 percent increase, and Tohatchi Middle School with a 1.71 percent increase.

For high schools, the highest proficiency growth in ELA occurred in Navajo Pine, Gallup, Ramah, Crownpoint, and Miyamura. The growth ranged from 5 to 15 percent.

Miyamura, Ramah, and Gallup Central led the proficiency growth in math for high schools, ranging from 1 to 6 percent increases.

Horacek credits the increases across the district to GMCS having a steady curriculum, which means students across the district get access to the same level of courses.

“These results from schools in different parts of the district show we’re reaching them,” Horacek said.

Since 2014, the proficiency rate in ELA across New Mexico has increased from 26 to 31 percent. In that same time, GMCS proficiency in ELA has increased from 14 to 29 percent.

Then in math, the proficiency rate across the state increased from 17 to 21 percent since 2014, while math proficiency across GMCS increased from 9 to 16 percent.

GMCS Superintendent Mike Hyatt said the results show a significant improvement in student performance over a short period of time.

“Good things can happen in the district,” he said. “GMCS was the lowest performing district five years ago, but now could pass other districts in the state. We’ve got a lot of work to do still, but we’ve come a long way,” Hyatt said.

Horacek then called attention to the proficiency results for McKinley Academy and Gallup Middle College High, which were drastically higher than the district wide average.

For ELA in 2018, McKinley Academy had about a 77 percent proficiency rate while Middle College had a 73 percent rate.

“Not many schools can say they hit a 77 percent proficiency rate,” Horacek said. “These results are powerful, and I keep saying that because it’s true.”

As for math in 2018, Middle College had a 15 percent proficiency rate, whereas McKinley Academy had a 48 percent rate.

After the presentation concluded, GMCS Board Secretary Michael Schaaf congratulated the students for their work.

“The staff and students are doing a great job,” he said. “They should be proud of all they’ve accomplished.”

District 1 Board Member Kevin Mitchell said the results were amazing.

“It is so good to see our students are doing so much better,” he said. “I want to thank the teachers for working as hard as they are.”

Board President Charles Long said the results show the district is headed in the right direction.

“I want to tell [teachers] to stay the course,” Long said. “Don’t deviate from what has been established because these are tremendous results.”

Long added they need to continue encouraging and appreciating their teaching staff.

“They’re doing a great job educating our kids,” he said.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent

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