​​​​​​​​​HONOLULU – The 2014-15 Strive HI Performance System results released by the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) today show an increase in the number of high performing public schools and public charter schools (PCS). Schools are evaluated based on their performance across four indicators: Achievement, Growth, Readiness, and the Achievement Gap.

​Seven schools moved to the top-tier "Recognition" status by meeting or exceeding performance targets. Twenty other schools also pulled out of the lower "Focus" tier by improving their index scores and/or reducing their achievement gap by half. "Focus" schools receive targeted resources to turn around persistently low-performing schools.

"Schools are doing an excellent job of looking at all of the different indicators and making strategic changes to make an impact for their students," said Deputy Superintendent Stephen Schatz. "We are especially pleased to see our increases in ACT scores, as it means more and more of our students are prepared for the rigor of college.

Launched in school year 2012-13, Strive HI is Hawaii's locally designed performance system that is a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which looked only at reading and math test scores and imposed consequences for schools that fell short of proficiency targets. Strive HI measures school performance and progress, and tailors supports and interventions for improvement. Its more expansive definition of school performance (along with meeting mathematics and English language arts/literacy standards) includes science proficiency, graduation rate, college enrollment, student achievement growth, chronic absenteeism and more.

View the 2014-15 State Snapshot of Strive HI Indicators: bit.ly/StriveHI15snap

Notable items for each indicator:

• Achievement: In 2014-15, schools transitioned to the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA). Results in English and Math for this year cannot be compared with previous years because of a different assessment. Science proficiency on the Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) is holding steady at 41%, with a two-year upward trend (up from 34%).
• Readiness: 11^th grade ACT scores are up 3 points; the two-year trend means 374 more students in this year's graduating class are already ready for college as they complete their senior year.  Elementary schools are holding steady in reducing chronic absenteeism; the two-year trend shows more than 5,700 students are no longer chronically absent from school. Their regular attendance provides them with more valuable learning opportunities to support academic achievement and reinforces the lifelong skill of "showing up" when it counts — whether for school, employment or family responsibilities.
• Growth: Schools Strive HI reports show how students are faring against other similarly tested students. Reports are posted to school pages (bit.ly/HIDOEfinder) and can be found in the reports database (bit.ly/ReportFinder).
• Achievement Gap: Like other states, Hawaii is struggling to raise the achievement of high-needs students (English Language Learners, low income, special needs). The goal is to "close the gap" and achieve equity for our high-needs students.

"The data show that as a state our schools are maintaining recent gains, and the Strive HI reports provide important feedback to our schools and the state offices to support our students' success," said Tammi Oyadomari-Chun, Assistant Superintendent, Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance.

The schools that moved into the top-tier "Recognition" category are:

Schools that have successfully improved enough to move out of "Focus" and into "Continuous Improvement" are:

Below are lists of top performers across indicators in the Strive HI System. Results for schools with small student populations are suppressed to protect student privacy.

Note: There is no Most Improved group for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics achievement —
SBA results cannot be compared with HSA results.