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District 16 has significant MCA test score gains. State AYP requirements met in 179 of 180 subgroups September 1, 2005
A Message from Dr. Don Helmstetter, Superintendent Meeting state requirements in 179 of 180 subgroups Spring Lake Park School District 16 is encouraged with the academic progress being made throughout the district. As always, there is still room for improvement and our entire staff is committed, as our mission statement proclaims, to “high expectations, high achievement for all.” Each year, Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) are given to students in reading, math, and writing. Results of these tests, given in grades 3, 5, 7, 10, and 11, are then used by districts to measure progress toward Minnesota academic standards as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Measurements required for the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability plan are actually quite technical, but they are also simplistic, which sometimes causes misleading conclusions. According to the law, progress must be measured for all students in the following categories: American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, White, Limited English Proficiency, Special Education, Free/Reduced Price Lunch, and Entire Student Population of School or District. In 2004-05, the Spring Lake Park School District, as a whole, accomplished every Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirement of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. That’s the short answer, simplified good news. But that’s not the entire story. The whole story gets complicated. When reviewing AYP requirements by individual schools, as well, there are a total of 180 separate measures. District 16 met the AYP requirements in 179 of those 180 subgroups. The district did not accomplish AYP requirements in only one school in only one of those 180 subgroups. Consequently, this put that school on the State list of those failing to meet AYP (even though the entire subgroup totals only 23 students out of over 500 students who attended that school in 2004-05). That is the short answer, simplified bad news. And we must continue to improve. Of course, that also means that, across the district, requirements were met in 179 of 180 subgroups. But that’s not the entire story, either. There is actually much more good news. Twenty percent gains District 16 is seeing significant academic gains, across the board, in both reading and math, in grades 3, 5, and 7. At the elementary level we improved the number of students demonstrating proficiency in reading and/or math by better than 20% in a number of schools. In addition, students who already had met proficiency demonstrated a deeper level of learning as our percentage of students in levels 4 and 5, the top two, improved significantly. It is also important to note that this achievement is improving across the entire spectrum of students. There are gains within subgroups, and students who have already met proficiency are demonstrating even greater achievement with more students moving from level three to levels four and five. This is a tribute to the work that our teachers, principals, and support staff have engaged in for the past couple years. The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) are one measure of a complex system—a snapshot in time — on one achievement test. It’s like completing all of the required coursework and all of the tests for a semester class, but then being graded only on the results of your final exam. Our system is thorough, professional . . . and producing results Our MCA results demonstrate signs of significant improvement, and we are encouraged by these results. However, the district also uses a number of additional ongoing assessments to measure student learning, as well. Our students take a computerized assessment, the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), three times a year in grades 2-8, and we will pilot this successful program at the high school this year. In addition, common assessments are developed by grade level teachers and departments to measure individual student progress towards learning targets. District 16 also conducts a deeper analysis of MCA results than is required by NCLB. For example, we obtain extremely useful data by tracking the progress of the same group of students from 3rd to 5th grade, something that the State or NCLB does not do. There is always room for improvement and there are still gaps in achievement that the district is working hard to close. Teachers will continue to work in collaborative professional teams (we call them Professional Learning Communities or PLCs – but more about these in a future column) in which teachers assess student progress and respond to the individual needs of their learners. This effort, initiated at each of our schools last year, is one of the important factors in improved test scores in 2004-05. Professional Learning Communities clarify learning targets (what we expect all students to learn), assess students’ progress towards these expectations, provide support to students having difficulty, and extend the learning of those who are exceeding expectations. Does this sound complicated? It really is. That’s why AYP results can be a little unnerving. It certainly takes more than one test to accurately and fairly assess the actual progress of our students. There’s much more to it. We will continue with the plans we have in place, which are based upon “high expectations” and which have all of our staff working towards the goal of “high achievement for all.” Recent test results give us plenty to celebrate (for only a moment before we get back to work). The results document plenty of progress—much of it dramatic—that indicates we are on the right course to continually improve the academic achievement of each and every student. Here’s to continued academic improvement in 2005-06! |
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