October 13, 2022
By News Director Jared Atha
In a recent article released by State Superintendent Joy Hoffmeister, data showed that students across the state are making progress after the Covid-19 Pandemic shutdown schools for an extended period of time.
The article stated that the State Department of Education measures academic progress in 17 different areas from grades 3 to 11. However, according to Elk City Superintendent Mike Sparks, in 2018 Elk City students did not outperform their peers in any of those 17 areas. Furthermore, in 2019 Elk City out performed their peers in only 3 for the 17 areas, and in 2021 Elk City out performed their peers in only 1 of the 17 areas.
However, data from the latest academic year (2022) showed that Elk City students outperformed their peers in 13 of the 17 areas used by the State Department of Education to measure academic progress.
Sparks says he gives credit to the teachers for the bounce back, saying he believes that the teachers are recognizing individual needs for the students.
The article went on to say that statewide of the 17 assessments, students scoring in the Proficient and Advanced level increased in all but two areas – 11th-grade math, which saw a slight decrease in scores, and 8th-grade science.
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