The Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) has been administered at Hawaii schools annually for the past eight years to test students’ proficiency in math and reading. This year, testing will begin on Nov. 15.

The test is part of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed by former President George W. Bush, and is designed to provide all students in the United States with a proper education by setting academic standards.

The exam has undergone several changes for this school year. One change is an increase in the required level of proficiency rates in order for schools to meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP). Last year, the required proficiency was 58% for reading, and 46% for math. This year, those requirements will raise to 72% in reading, and 64% in math. In addition, the HSA will now include a science section in addition to the usual math and reading portions. Furthermore, all test sessions will be taken online and students will be given three chances to take each test to meet proficiency.

So how will these changes affect our students’ performance on the test? While we may not know the answer to this question, we do know that during the 2009-2010 school year, more McKinley students met HSA standards than in previous years. The proficiency rates of Limited English Students in particular improved dramatically. Since 2008, their passage rate in the math section has gone up 12.4 % from a rate of 35.6% to 48%. Meanwhile, their proficiency in the reading section has increased by a full 23.3% from 36.1% to 59.4%.

“[All of] the students are starting to take the test more seriously,” stated Needs Assessment Coordinator Lisa Panquites.

She explained that students have been spending more time in completing the test, which she hopes means that they are putting more thought into their answers. Panquites tries to mentally prepare sophomores for the exam by speaking with them before the assessment is given.

“I tell them that they should take pride in their answers,” said Panquites.

She also presents the sophomore class each year with statistics comparing MHS results to those of other campuses. (Based on the 2009-10 scores McKinley, is currently ranked third among public schools in Hawaii for its performance on the math section, and 22nd for reading) Panquites hopes to inspire students to put forth their best effort when taking the HSA.

“It was a whole school effort,” said Principal Ron Okamura who also attributes our school’s test improvement to “a change in attitude of both teachers and students.”

He stated, “We are now starting to look at this [meeting test proficiency levels] as can versus cannot.”

The principal believes that the improvement in our scores has raised morale among staff and students going into the next test.

“I think we are going to see improvement in our scores,” said Okamura, “[because] everyone can learn.”

It appears that our past success has inspired current sophomores to put forth their best effort on the upcoming test

“Seeing my junior and senior friends perform well on the H.S.A makes me want to work hard too,” said Sophomore Kelly Sunabe. “It would look bad if our school’s performance worsened, so I want to do my part in improving it.”