How can this happen? We have a small school district that doesn’t have nearly the funding that Moscow does, and it beats everyone across the state.
Maybe district supervisors and the Idaho Department of Education should be looking at Troy as a way to help the government schools?
Juniors at Troy Junior-Senior High School shattered the statewide median test score on the SAT this year, earning the title of the highest-scoring traditional district in the state of Idaho.
The 27 juniors at the school amassed a median score of 1,136, outpacing the typical statewide score of 976.
The small number of students makes the test results even more impressive, according to Brad Malm, superintendent of the Troy School District.
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About four years ago, the district adopted curriculum that was introduced by then-Superintendent Christy Castro. The Beyond Textbooks curriculum focuses on multi-level interventions, student assessment and instructional improvement. That’s been accomplished by putting a system in place that focuses on teaching a standard, or a topic the students should master by the end of the year, on a set schedule or calendar.
“That calendar tells you what standard to teach, when to teach that standard and how long to teach that standard,” Malm said. “Once we’ve taught that, the kids take a formative assessment.”
Those who pass the test move into an enrichment group that allows the students a deeper dive into the topic, while those who fail the assessment are placed into a “reteach group,” where they work to hit the benchmark put in place. If the students once again do not pass the assessment, then they participated in targeted one-on-one tutoring.
“There are a lot of safety nets built in,” Malm said. “For us, we have teacher buy-in, which you have to have.”