EAGLE HEIGHTS ACADEMY School works to reverse high rate of test failures

The charter school's failure rate is double that of the city public schools.
By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- With nearly nine out of 10 fourth-graders failing the state reading test, Eagle Heights Academy has developed a new motto: Do it now!
"We're not waiting for tomorrow or the next year, we can't afford to," Superintendent Alex Murphy said about efforts to improve the scores.
"We're not making excuses. We're doing what we feel that we need to do -- immediately."
Eighty-two of the 93 Eagle Heights fourth-graders who took the state reading proficiency test in October scored in the "below basic" category.
That's an 88 percent failure rate, two times higher than Youngstown public schools, where 44 percent of fourth-graders placed "below basic."
Children scoring "below basic" have two more opportunities to take the test -- March and July. If they don't move out of that bottom category, they could be held back in the fourth grade next year.
"We're going to have to sit down and really give some deep thought to that," Murphy said. "We're not at that point yet. We're trying to do all we can to hopefully minimize what that number would be."
Low scores: Eagle Heights, housed in the former South High School on Market Street, was created in 1998 as one of Ohio's first charter schools, which are publicly funded, privately operated schools.
With nearly 1,000 pupils from kindergarten to ninth grade, the academy is the largest charter school in the state.
But while enrollment has skyrocketed, test scores have remained low at Eagle Heights, as well as the state's other charter schools.
Statewide, 51 percent of charter school fourth-graders placed in the "below basic" category in the October reading test. The failure rate for all fourth-graders in the state, public and charter, was 17 percent.
At seven charter schools -- one in Akron and two each in Cincinnati, Toledo and Dayton -- all fourth-graders failed.
Eagle Heights officials have said in the past that low scores may be more a reflection of the public schools from where the pupils came. But, now in its fourth year, that explanation may no longer be relevant.
Moving quickly: Murphy, who became the academy's superintendent this year, said he and his new team of administrators do not have the time to look back at the past.
"We need to look at where we are and where we need to go," he said. "All of our energy has been focused on that."
Murphy said the school is implementing a new skills-based, phonics reading program and plans new after-school and Saturday intervention programs for struggling pupils. He also said teachers are training in a new computer-based instructional program.
"We are going to stay on task to improve our achievement and we're hopeful that we'll see some improved results," he said. "Normally, you don't like to make changes mid-year, but because of ... the criticalness of this whole matter, we need to do it now."
Changes: Murphy's addition was one of several top administrative changes at Eagle Heights this year. The Rev. Gary Frost, board president, left Youngstown in July and was replaced by the Rev. Kenneth Simon.
Murphy hired Joe Conley, who retired as superintendent of the city public schools in 1997, to be principal of kindergarten through fourth grades. He also hired Gail Tigner, a former teacher in DeKalb County, Ga., to be principal of the academy's fifth through ninth grades.
Youngstown has four other charter schools, but Eagle Heights is the only one with fourth-graders who took the reading test in October.