Note: This story is one of three on where Idaho’s at-risk students are thriving and what those districts and charters are doing differently. Learn about where those bright spots are, one district’s unique approach to Mondays, and another’s innovative support system for students, teachers, and community members.

Idaho’s most at-risk student groups tend to fall behind their peers academically. It’s a story that’s retold with every new batch of standardized test score results or graduation rates. 

These at-risk populations are minorities in Idaho. Among them are students:

• with disabilities
• with limited English proficiency
• experiencing homelessness
• in foster care
• who are migrant
• who are African-American

But a closer look reveals another story, too – in pockets of the state, these groups are thriving. They’re outpacing state averages and closing the gap with peers. 

Different approaches are getting different results. In the Bonneville Joint School District, unique Mondays are dedicated to getting kids caught up or giving them more time to complete assignments (read about it here). In the Nampa School District, community resource centers, co-teaching, and innovative teacher and student supports are making a difference (read about it here).

Oftentimes, the groups who underperform on standardized tests have had more setbacks in life. They might have erratic or unsafe home lives, be hungry and worried about when they might eat again, be contending with systemic oppression, be struggling to learn difficult concepts in a language they’re just learning, or have different needs or learning styles than their peers. 

It’s up to educators, school staff, and communities to identify and meet the needs of these kids and help them succeed, and that often requires innovation and rethinking the status quo. Their futures are at stake. 

EdNews identified some of these bright spots — where at-risk students are shining — with a deep dive into 2022 Idaho Standards Achievement Test data. 

If you need it: an ISAT primer

Here is some background information on Idaho’s far-reaching annual test: 

• The Idaho Standards Achievement Test is administered each spring (except in 2020) to all public school students in grades 3 through 8 and 10, gauging their proficiency in ELA/literacy and math. 
  • Achieving proficiency indicates a students has “met achievement standards.” Basically, it means the student is on track with their learning. 
• Scores are sorted into four categories: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. 
• More than 169,000 students took the ISAT in 2022, up from about 163,000 in 2021.
• In 2022, students in grades 5, 8 and 11 took the newly developed science ISAT. A total of 70,029 students took the new science assessment, and 40.8 percent of students scored as either proficient or advanced. The results cannot be used to gauge student progress because there are no previous results for comparison.
• Statewide, district and school-level results are available online, along with results for grade levels and demographic groups.

Methodology: the data we mined

First, take a look at the student groups EdNews focused on for each content area:

We chose these groups because they were the five lowest-performing groups in each content area. Here are the steps we took next:

1. First, we compiled lists of all the districts and charters in the state that were outperforming state proficiency levels for each demographic group. 
   1. Curious about how your district stacked up? You can check out the full lists for each subject area: click here for ELA; here for math; and here for science. 
2. Then, we looked at districts and charters who performed in the top 10 across the state for given demographic groups and content areas. 
3. Finally, we compiled a list of those districts that were on multiple top-ten lists to show where at-risk students seem to be doing the best. We’ll show you those findings below. 

Before taking a look, take into account some caveats and nuances:

• The data represents the percentage of students who achieve proficient or higher on the ISAT. 
• Inexact data: The percentages are often not exact, and include < and > signs. The State Department of Education provides data in this way to protect student privacy. 
• Redacted or no data: In some cases, the number of students in a given demographic group was so small that the data for that district or charter was redacted to protect student privacy. In other cases, a district or charter did not have any students from a given demographic group, so no data was available. 

According to the ISAT data, here’s where at-risk students are shining

There were a few standout districts that appeared on more than three top 10 lists. Here are those districts:

And there were eight districts or charters that appeared on three top 10 lists. 

If your district is on one of these lists and you have a success story you’d like to share, let us know: [email protected]. We’re curious about what helps Idaho’s at-risk students achieve more academically.