Lincoln ACT scores improve, Elementary accreditation dinged

Lincoln High School Juniors racked up some of the best ACT scores seen by Lincoln Schools in the past several years, while Lincoln Elementary School took a hit to its accreditation level due to a certification mix up.

With an average composite score of 21.2 points, the Lincoln High Juniors bested last year's school average by a full four points and outperformed the historic state average, which hovers at about the 20-point mark According to the Montana Office of Public Instruction's GEMS website, the statewide average composite score for the 2017-2018 school year stood at 19.6, while Lincoln School averaged 17.2.

Lincoln Schools Superintendent Carla Anderson said a couple students scored 27, which is considered advanced and on the upper end of the distribution of ACT scores.

"They look so good, Kathy went in and just cheered with the Juniors today," Anderson said Thursday. "They just are fantastic. We gave the sophomores the pre-ACT and there too, we saw very, very good scores."

The composite score for the ACT maxes out at 36 points, but scores in the 30-plus range are comparatively rare, with less than .1 percent of students nationally scoring a perfect 36.

The ACTs are designed as a measurement of student's ability to complete college-level work. In Montana, it is administered to High School Juniors every spring.

The ACT performance provided some good news this year, which proved to be the second year in a row that Lincoln School saw its accreditation downgraded.

Last year, a combination of absenteeism and poor test scores pushed the Lincoln Junior High accreditation down to "Advice," which required the school to submit a plan and a timeline for fixing the problem. This year, improved test scores helped the Junior High regain its "Regular" accreditation, but an issue with a provisional teaching certificate for Nancy Schwalm, who took over as the 3rd grade teacher at the start of the year, dropped the elementary school's accreditation to "Advice."

Anderson said the issue arose because Shwalm was told by a person at OPI that her provisional teaching certificate for science would be sufficient. That proved not to be the case and resulted in the accreditation change. "In her defense, she thought she had done the right thing," she said.

Midway through the school year, Angela Krier, who is certified in elementary education, took over as the 3rd grade teacher. Schwalm has since been hired to take over as the Lincoln High School science teacher next year, following the retirement of long-time science teacher George Pierce

"We already took care of the problem, it's already rectified, but we have to look at 'Advice' for a year," Anderson said.