Timothy L. Johnson Academy students made great gains on the state proficiency exam this year, and officials are hoping the improvement puts the school in a good position to continue in Fort Wayne.
Scores on the state ISTEP+ exam also improved at Imagine MASTer Academy over last year but came in low at its sister school, Imagine Schools on Broadway, which opened this year.
Timothy L. Johnson Academy has been repeatedly reprimanded by Ball State University, the entity that authorizes its charter, for its performance on the ISTEP+ exam.
Performance has improved since the school’s 12 percent passing rate in its first year, 2002-03, but as of last year, only a third of its students were performing at grade level on the exam.
But officials turned things around this year, and the passing rate increased in all grades tested. Passing rates went up 9 percentage points in third grade for both language arts and math and 18 points in fourth grade. The largest gain was seen in fifth grade, where scores increased by 32 percentage points over last year.
“We’re very pleased with the progress. We’re not satisfied, but we’re very pleased,” School Leader Steve Bollier said.
Bollier believes this year’s improvement puts the school in a good position to have its charter renewed by Ball State. The school was issued a two-year extension of its charter in 2007 because Ball State officials were concerned, in part, about the poor test results.
At the time, Ball State also shut down the middle school in hopes that Johnson Academy educators could focus on the elementary grades and raise ISTEP+ scores. Johnson Academy officials have submitted their application for a five-year renewal and should hear the verdict next month.
Charter schools are designed to allow teachers and administrators more flexibility with instruction in exchange for more accountability.
Charters can be issued by the mayor of Indianapolis, a four-year public university or a public school district. So far, Ball State is the only university to issue charters.
The initial testing data for Imagine Schools on Broadway came in low. Only 21 percent of fifth-graders were considered proficient in both language arts and math, and only a quarter of fourth-graders were considered passing in both subjects. Third-graders came in with a 22 percent passing rate in language arts and math.
The school opened in August for kindergarten through fifth-grade students.
The majority of scores at Imagine MASTer Academy improved, with only the passing rate for sixth-graders decreasing from 60 percent performing at grade level last year to 54 percent this year.
Imagine officials did not return a call seeking comment.
ksoderlund@jg.net
