MONAHANS ISD ACHIEVES 'EXEMPLARY' STATUS
    -- Monahans News -- Aug. 8, 2002

The Monahans-Wickett-Pyote Independent School District received an "Exemplary" rating from the Texas Education Agency for the 2001-2002 school year, according to Superintendent of Schools Clifton Stephens.

Interestingly, there are 34 schools in the same region in which Monahans is located and only five schools were rated exemplary.

"This is great news!" said Stephens.  "The outstanding results we have received are a credit to great campus administrators, teachers and support staff.  Most of all, it is due to students who are prepared to step up to the challenge of testing.

"These results are not an accident,"  the superintendent added.  "This is the result of collaboration and vertical teaming of teachers between grade levels and campuses that give continuity.  It is the persistence of administrators to see that the students attend school and have knowledge and testing skills to perform at a high level."

According to the superintendent, the Number One goal for the district in 2001-2002 was to reach exemplary status.  "It's a good feeling to reach that goal,"  he said.  

Reaching exemplary status is not a given.  Not every school achieves that goal.  In fact, very few did.  In this area, only Monahans, Iraan and Wink achieved an exemplary rating.

Stephens said every campus either improved their score or maintained the level of exemplary for this past school year.  Edwards Elementary, Tatom Elementary, Sudderth Elementary and Walker Junior High all received "Exemplary" ratings.  Monahans High School received a "Recognized" rating.  The Monahans Education Center scores were included with the high school.  MEC students who were tested performed, percentage wise, better than any other group of students in the history of the center.  Cullender Kindergarten is not scored because testing begins in the 3rd grade and it is not the campus immediately preceding the 3rd grade.

Stephens also noted that statewide, the number of schools receiving "Exemplary" ratings dropped from 178 to 143.  The number of "Recognized" districts, the next highest rating, fell from 471 to 425.  The addition of the Social Studies test this year to accountability ratings is said to be the main reason for the drop in numbers.  To receive an "exemplary" rating for the district all students and all subgroups in all grade levels tested had to be above the 90 percent passing level.

The all students' scores for the MWPISD were:

Reading 96.9 percent
Mathematics 98.3 percent
Writing 95.3 percent
Social Studies 97.7 percent

This is the last time that the state will rate schools based on the TAAS test, Stephens said.

Next spring, the TAAS will be replaced with a new test called TAKS, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, which will raise the bar of success even higher as well as covering a broader range of subjects.  Because of this transition to a new test, schools will keep their accountability for the next two years.