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The Hawaii State Board of Education is releasing news today that will tell schools whether they are thriving or just barely surviving.

Some say educators and journalists place too much stock in test scores, but there’s no getting around the fact that the Hawaii State Assessment is the tool used to measure whether schools are meeting goals mandated by federal policy.

The scores are deemed so significant, in fact, that in order to see them this morning a few hours in advance of today’s meeting, reporters had to sign an agreement with the Hawaii Department of Education to keep the numbers confidential until a set time (4:30 p.m. today, for those of you burning with curiosity). And this year’s results are even more eagerly anticipated than usual because they may reveal the educational impact on students of Furlough Fridays.

The key word there is “may.” When evaluating whatever the scores turn out to be, it’s important to exercise caution. They are a snapshot of how students performed at one point in time. This year’s — or any year’s — numbers must at the very least be compared with previous years’ numbers. (That is why we at Civil Beat are hard at work putting together key data points from the last five years’ results.)

But placing one snapshot next to another snapshot still doesn’t give us a motion picture. So, don’t get too excited.

“It is absolutely essential that we do not overemphasize the importance of HSA test scores or any set of state test scores,” Moanalua High School principal Darrel Galera told Civil Beat. Galera is a leader of a grassroots group formed to ensure that principals have a place at the table when reforms are discussed.

Moanalua has historically performed well on assessment tests, but Galera says that is not because his school places a high priority on them.

“A test score is a snapshot in time, and a test score by itself does not provide the information you need to judge a student’s, a school’s, or a system’s performance for the year,” he said. “In the same way that looking at how much a student may weigh on a single day does not explain his/her health for the year, or taking a student’s temperature on a day does not explain the student’s illness record for the year, a test score should be reviewed carefully but should not be overemphasized and everyone should be responsible about the conclusions they try to reach. If we continue to perpetuate an overemphasis on test scores, we will have a limited view and understanding of what schools really do and what students really need to be successful in life.”

In announcing last year’s scores, the district acknowledged that the majority of its schools were not meeting the mandates of No Child Left Behind.

Last year’s proficiency levels:

• Grade 3: 62 percent in reading; 48 percent in math
• Grade 4: 62 percent in reading; 50 percent in math
• Grade 5: 61 percent in reading; 46 percent in math
• Grade 6: 65 percent in reading; 44 percent in math
• Grade 7: 67 percent in reading; 47 percent in math
• Grade 8: 68 percent in reading; 39 percent in math
• Grade 10: 73 percent in reading; 34 percent in math

Only 34 percent of Hawaii’s public schools met all of their AYP goals last year, though. The results inspired promises from the education department for intensive “remedial work.”

“While today’s results only serve as one measure of how a school is performing, the need to close the achievement gap in Hawaii’s public schools still exists,” said former Superintendent Pat Hamamoto in the press release announcing last year’s scores. “We will break through the Adequate Yearly Progress ‘glass ceiling’ by implementing additional interventions tied to results, raising educational standards, demanding accountability, and redesigning our school day and instructional delivery system.”

Schools that do not make AYP for five consecutive years must, under the direction of their school district, restructure. This can include reopening the school as a public charter school, replacing all or most of school staff, including the principal, or entering into a contract with an entity such as a private management company with a demonstrated record of effectiveness to operate the school. Ninety-one Hawaii schools last year were slated to be restructured, having gone five years without meeting AYP goals.

Regardless of score increases or decreases, Galera said teachers and administrators in all of Hawaii’s schools deserve credit for their dedication to getting through one of the most notoriously difficult school years in this state’s history.

Galera said that instead of focusing so sharply on testing, he would promote greater emphasis on what he called “learning criteria.” I’ll be meeting with him Friday to learn more about this concept.