THE LAST WORD: Schools making progress

The great scientist Marie Curie, also a teacher, might have been talking about school academic standards when she said, “I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.”

Teachers in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District would concur.

According to state standards and federal benchmarks released Aug. 31, improvements have been made across the board with regard to testing results of area schools. But because the national bar is so high, improvements at the state level did not count enough to save one of three schools from spending at least another year under sanctions.

TeWinkle Middle School’s state Academic Performance Index test scores soared 43 points in the last year — a big jump, especially considering that state expectations were to improve by five points.

But the school met only 23 of 25 criteria to meet 2007 Annual Yearly Progress expectations.

On paper, the school fell short; but progress is being made.

Districtwide, 68% of all schools met their federal growth targets, exceeding the state average of 50%.

TeWinkle’s new principal, Kirk Bauermeister, has the right perspective.

“We took a huge leap this year,” he said. “Next year, we just need a small step.”