Archive for Wednesday, October 19, 2011
USD 204 schools receive Standards of Excellence; CMS fails to make AYP targets
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to determine whether schools and districts are making adequate progress to get all students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014.
October 19, 2011
The Kansas State Department of Education released official adequate yearly progress results last week, and that spells good news and bad news for USD 204.
The good news is four schools in the district received building-wide Standards of Excellence awards — Bonner Springs High School received the award in reading and all three elementary schools received the award in both reading and math. Delaware Ridge Elementary even received the award in science.
To receive a Standards of Excellence award in any learning area, a building must make AYP in its All Students subgroup, among other criteria.
“As the target keeps moving up, it’s a lot of work and teachers and staff members are doing a good job of getting kids up” to where they need to be, Superintendent Robert VanMaren said of the results.
That means four out of five of the district’s schools also made AYP in the 2010-2011 testing year. The district as a whole and its middle school failed to meet the targets, however.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to determine whether schools and districts are making adequate progress to get 100 percent of students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. In each year leading to 2014, the minimum target percentage schools and districts must achieve on their assessment scores increases.
For the 2010-2011 school year, the overall minimum target in reading was 86.0 percent. The target in math was 82.3 percent. USD 204 fell just shy of those targets, receiving a total score of 85.6 percent in reading and 81.9 percent in math.
For individual schools, the targets for kindergarten through eighth grade were 87.8 percent in reading and 86.7 percent in math. For ninth through 12th grade, they were 86.0 percent in reading and 82.3 percent in math.
At Bonner Springs Elementary, 89.7 percent of students scored proficient or above in reading and 89.7 percent scored proficient or above in math. Students at Delaware Ridge Elementary, which has made AYP every year since it opened in 2007, exceeded the targets by a long shot, with 93.5 percent of students scoring proficient or above in reading and 94.4 percent scoring proficient or above in math.
At Edwardsville Elementary, students fell below both the reading and math targets, with 85.6 percent of students scoring proficient or above in reading and 82.3 percent scoring proficient or above in math. The school was still able to make AYP based on safe harbor and confidence interval provisions, however. A school can receive safe harbor when it can demonstrate that the amount of students in a subgroup scoring below the target has decreased at least 10 percent from the previous year.
Leticia Porter, the district’s director of secondary education, said the state also takes into account the varying factors that might hold a student back from scoring proficient on the test by using a 99 percent level of confidence statistical formula when scoring tests that are near the target — this is the confidence interval provision.
“Basically, the state computers apply statistical formulas to the scores to ensure the best-case scenario for taking into consideration anything that might cause a school not to make AYP if they have improved or their scores are close,” she said.
Students at Bonner Springs High School scoring proficient or above in reading totaled 88.4 percent. Though students fell below the math target, with 80.8 percent scoring proficient or above, the school was also able to achieve AYP in math through safe harbor and confidence interval provisions.
Students scoring proficient or above in reading at Clark Middle School totaled 81.6 percent; in math, they totaled 75.6 percent.
Students are tested in every grade level, from third grade to eighth grade. High school students have the option of taking the test more than once, but only the test they take in their 11th grade year is counted. That is, unless they score proficient on a test they take prior to their 11th grade year. Then that sore is banked, and they don’t have to take the test again.
Less testing means a greater chance of getting AYP, VanMaren said. But CMS also has to contend with a larger population than the elementary schools, which creates more subgroups — seven in all, including African American, Caucasian, Hispanic and Free and Reduced Lunch. For state assessment purposes, subgroups are formed when students in a particular ethnic group or who qualify for free and reduced lunch total at least 30. And every school has an “All Students” subgroup, so students fall into at least two subgroups and their scores affect each subgroup they are in.
For that reason, Steve Cook, CMS principal, called the No Child Left Behind Act “discriminatory.” He said it doesn’t give schools like his, with a large and diverse student population, a fair shot.
“Because the more diverse the district, the more you are more likely to fail,” he said.
Schools receiving federal money that don’t make AYP for two years in a row are identified as “On Improvement” under No Child Left Behind, which is intended to allow parents to make informed decisions about their children’s schools.
Clark Middle School made AYP in the 2009-2010 school year, so would not have that designation. The school is, however, identified as “On Watch,” which is one level below. With that designation, staff members will have to participate in additional training and an “On Watch” peer review organized by the state, among other requirements.
Cook said the school was also amping up its interventions with students who struggle in the areas of math and reading, with teachers using practices such as integrating reading or a math problem into other areas of learning or using real-world applications when explaining how a math problem is solved.
“Because you have to think more systematically,” he said. “You have to think a larger approach and you have to solve a problem rather than just nine times nine.”
Cook said he was confident his school could make AYP again, but he said he was also optimistic about the state of Kansas receiving a waiver that would allow it to be exempt from the part of No Child Left Behind in which schools have to show 100 percent proficiency in reading and math by 2014. Schools receiving the waiver, offered this year as an option to states by President Barack Obama, would still have to show commensurate academic growth through other education reform programs. The KSDE applied for such a waiver in February but was denied. VanMaren said during the school board meeting Monday night the KSDE was in the process of applying for the waiver again.
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Comments
triedntru (anonymous) says…
Ms. Treolo, who is this person named "Cook?"
I'm reading the article, comprehending it just fine, and this person named "Cook" drops out of the sky and calls the program discriminatory. There is no title attached to Cook, or no introduction to him earlier in the story. Without a title, there is no reason for me to believe as a reader that this person has any authority on the situation.
If he is the CMS principal, or just a random person on the street, it would probably be appropriate to list him as such. Search the article for the name Cook, and it's only mentioned twice with no introduction.
Oh, ok. I just looked it up. He's the CMS principal. It'd be good journalism to introduce him as such.
779500 (anonymous) says…
triedntru:
Obviously, you need to work on your reading skills as the first time Cook is mentioned, he is identified clearly:
For that reason, Steve Cook, CMS principal, called the No Child Left Behind Act “discriminatory.”
~~
I believe you owe this reporter an apology based on your oversight.
triedntru (anonymous) says…
Uhm, no, my reading comprehension was and is just fine.
I'm glad to see that the journalist took my suggestion to heart, because she revised the article to include Mr. Cook's title.
You're welcome, and I accept your apology in advance.
ksrfd (anonymous) says…
I think Miss Treolo should write a story about triedntru. How fascinating that we have the World's Greatest Assessor of On-The-Job Effectiveness living right here in Bonner Springs. It would be fitting for karma to tip its hat to this reporter by someone publicly questioning your professional ability the next time you make a mistake at work. I agree with 779500 that an apology is warranted.