The Hawaii Department of Education recently announced that it’s awarding $230,000 to 15 schools that performed particularly well during the 2013-14 school year.

The system that measures schools’ success is called Strive HI — a new accountability framework that officials tout for its focus on dynamic measures of performance and growth rather than solely on test scores. Schools’ scores are based on an array of metrics that are customized to specific student populations, from chronic absenteeism to college-going rates.

The scores are categorized into five levels, with “Recognition” schools performing in the top 5 percent. The 15 schools getting awards are “Recognition” schools.

Students at Ewa Beach’s Ilima Intermediate School, whose score put it in the “Continuous Improvement” category. “Continuous Improvement” is the second-highest level on the Strive HI index.

PF Bentley/Civil Beat

But it would appear that middle and high schools are getting the short end of the stick. All the “Recognition” schools this year are elementary schools; last year, all but one were.

That could reveal flaws in the Strive HI system — flaws that effectively preclude secondary schools from getting some extra cash and “recognition.” The state has far fewer secondary schools, so their chances of making it into the Top 5 are less likely. High schools are also subject to an added criterion to be considered “high performing”: that their graduation rates are in the top 10 percent of high schools statewide.

Fourteen of the 15 elementary schools each received $15,000 for high performance, while one school — Kailua’s Kaelepulu Elementary — got $20,000 for both high performance and high progress.

Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe says the department is looking into the issue.

“All schools that meet the criteria are eligible to be classified as Recognition schools, including middle and high schools,” he said in an emailed statement. “We acknowledge that secondary schools have had more difficulty meeting the criteria and because of that, we are evaluating the system to ensure it better recognizes secondary schools’ successes.”

Here are the 15 “Recognition” schools:

• E.B. DeSilva Elementary
• Enchanted Lake Elementary
• Hahaione Elementary
• Helemano Elementary
• Hickam Elementary
• Hokulani Elementary
• Kaelepulu Elementary
• Kaumualii Elementary
• Kilohana Elementary
• Maunaloa Elementary
• Mokapu Elementary
• Noelani Elementary
• Pomaikai Elementary
• Puohala Elementary
• Waikiki Elementary