working to turn around

Highline's Step 5 school

By Donna Stefanik

Chinook Middle School in SeaTac may be a Step 5 school in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) formula-but it won't stay there for long if first-year principal Evie Livingston has anything to say about it.

"All of the kids are very intelligent, and it's my job to make sure they know that," she said. "Every child, no matter where they come from, has something important to give this world. I really believe that."

Step 5 schools are those with six or more years of failure to meet the NCLB-defined "Adequate Yearly Progress", portion of the federal/state mandate that all schools reach full proficiency in math and reading by 2013.

Livingston, who was brought to the school to fulfill the state mandate for schools in Step 5, can already cite significant progress on district tests, and hopes the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) results will follow suit.

Its own students often label Chinook, one of four middle schools in the Highline District, as "the ghetto school," according to Livingston. It's a school with a large Hispanic population, many of whom are struggling in academics.

Additional challenges include a fluctuating student population and high discipline rates. Together, they make high test scores a challenge for students to reach.

But Livingston says that things are changing. When this year's results were released for district-level tests (Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP), Chinook, for the first time in 15 years, posted significant gains in both math and reading scores.

Livingston is particularly proud of the seventh grade math scores, which surpassed the district average as well as other "higher performing" district middle schools.

"We have a long way to go," Livingston said, "but we've implemented some really good strategies."

She added that a lot of the credit for the improvements goes to her staff.

"I'm not a person who uses words loosely, but this is the best staff I've ever worked with," Livingston declared.

Students too, get credit from Livingston. She began with a back-to-school assembly last fall, the first held at the school in years. Livingston appealed directly to the kids, telling them that they make the school what it is--good or bad. Livingston, a former middle school teacher and administrator, wanted all of them to know they could be successful.

Livingston has rallied her staff to continuously evaluate testing and data about the students and to determine how they will apply it to the school's programs.

A one-time pre-med student, Livingston says she is very data-driven, but, she added, "The question always is, 'What's best for the kids?'"

She was a Seattle School District teacher and administrator for 16 years before coming to Chinook. Her track record regarding test scores at two low-income, minority schools was a good one, and she feels it made her a good candidate for taking on Chinook, not despite, but because of its status as a Step 5 school.

While originally Livingston sought to stay in Seattle at the end of the 2006-2007 school year, it "didn't work out", and she applied to Chinook. "I believe everything happens for a reason. I am very glad to be here," she said.

Livingston's enthusiasm is palpable. She smiles as she glowingly speaks of the diversity of her school, the staff (a repeated subject of praise) and the students beginning to see positive changes in themselves.

"I just heard two students talking the other day about their perceptions (about the school) changing once they got here. One of them was talking about becoming less shy and more outgoing."

A student self-evaluation also recently showed that most of them know it's important to learn, she added.

There's a long way to go, Livingston recognizes, and a lot of challenges along the way. While curriculum and teaching are things Livingston can control somewhat, the $3.5 million district shortfall for the coming year is out of her hands,

Of course, there is also the ever-present need to continue to improve under NCLB. The timeline now is three years to try and climb out of the Step 5 hole, and Livingston plans to be at Chinook while it climbs.

The district is helping with extra financial support, and the state has placed a facilitator in the school to offer advice on how to improve the scores.

"That's been really helpful," Livingston said.

"Will our scores go up again next year? I don't know. (But) we have to do everything we can do so that these kids have the most choices in life. It's all about the kids."