In one room a cancer researcher is looking at ways to break down a potential drug for leukemia into commercially available products. Nearby, work is progressing on a virus-resistant strain of tilapia and the possibility of using invasive plants to distill ethanol.
The projects are a small sampling of work being done by students at Waipahu High, a school focused on preparing students for success in college and careers.
"I don’t know that we’re in a high school," remarked U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who on Monday spent his last few hours in Hawaii at the campus. "This is like graduate-level work. What an amazing environment to learn in. How fun would this be as a high school student, to be learning hands-on rather than sitting behind a desk taking notes?"
Duncan was on Oahu on Sunday and Monday to visit public schools and recognize Hawaii’s progress with Race to the Top reforms.
"I’m thrilled to be here, thrilled to see firsthand … how committed this community is to taking performance to the next level," Duncan said.
The state Department of Education won a four-year, $75 million grant in 2010 after pledging sweeping education reforms, including plans to turn around its lowest-performing schools, boost student achievement and improve teacher and principal effectiveness.
"It’s a wonderful opportunity to show the secretary the catalytic nature that Race to the Top had on the state," said schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. "It made us really focus on results.
"These kids are moving, and they have a bright, bright future," she said of Waipahu’s students.
The school — the state’s second-largest public high school, with 2,450 students — provides instruction via six career pathways: arts and communication; business; health; industrial and engineering technology; natural resources; and public and human services.
"It’s about teaching the students how to apply what they learn," said Principal Keith Hayashi.
Under his leadership, 56 percent of last year’s graduating class enrolled in college, an improvement over a 43 percent college-going rate the year before and up from 33 percent in 2010. And more than 200 seniors started the school year with at least 20 of the 24 credits needed to graduate, due in large part to a program that allows students to take free college courses on campus and earn credits toward both their diplomas and a college degree.
Andrea Jurado, the Waipahu senior working on the cancer drug project, came to Hawaii four years ago from her native Philippines and credits the American school system for expanding her learning opportunities.
She said she sought out an internship at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, where she came up with her research project, which will be showcased in May at an international science and engineering fair in Los Angeles.
"That kind of progress is the norm for Hawaii public schools," Gov. Neil Abercrombie said of Jurado, who has been awarded a full scholarship to Columbia University.
"Before you make a judgment about the public schools, you see what’s been accomplished there in the last three years," Abercrombie added. "By any outside observation, Hawaii public schools are rising, and we’re going to keep on rising."
Duncan echoed those comments.
"This journey that Hawaii’s been on is extraordinary," Duncan said. "To say that Hawaii now, by any objective measure, is one of the fastest-improving states in the nation, that’s amazing, that’s absolutely amazing. … I couldn’t be more pleased."
By one count Hawaii’s public school fourth- and eighth-graders made gains in reading and math on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress, outpacing or matching the year-over-year growth in national averages for the same subjects.
The praise marks a turnaround from about a year ago, when Hawaii’s grant was still partially flagged for the state’s slow progress in achieving goals in its aggressive reform plan.
The U.S. Department of Education had placed Hawaii’s prize on "high-risk" status in December 2011, citing concerns about whether the state’s promised reforms could be met. The warning label was partially lifted in February 2013 and completely removed last summer.
Duncan acknowledged Hawaii still has a lot of work ahead, noting that more improvement needs to be made with high school graduation rates, lowering dropout rates and ensuring all students graduate "truly college- and career-ready."
Of the dozen 2010 Race winners, Hawaii is the only state that has not requested a so-called no-cost extension — essentially an extra year to meet pledged reforms.
"We will complete our work under Race to the Top," Matayoshi said. "We’re really looking at what are our next steps to sustain this transformation."
Earlier Monday, Duncan visited Ka Waihona o ka Na‘auao, a Hawaiian-focused public charter school on the Waianae Coast, and heard concerns some educators have over standardized tests for students at Hawaiian-language immersion schools.
The students are given a straight English-to-Hawaiian translation of the Hawaii State Assessment developed in 2011, which Hawaiian educators say contains serious grammatical and vocabulary errors and has resulted in poor test results for some schools. Some parents have been so frustrated with the translated tests that they’ve opted their children out of the testing, which in turn can hurt a school’s overall score.
The test is federally mandated to measure how well students are learning, and schools stand to lose federal funding for falling behind.
Duncan promised to look into the issue and respond in writing.
"Whatever we can do to help, we’ll do that," he said. "We want to be held accountable to being a good partner."
