Aspiring to greater achievement
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
— Thomas A. Edison
FOR THE PAST several weeks, Emporia administrators have been pouring over student test results and working on an improvement plan. The plan is required by the State Department of Education because our district is “on improvement” after failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress for two consecutive years in reading.
At first, I was aggravated that we are required to spend so much time on a plan when we are already using many of the most effective, research-based instructional strategies and programs approved by the U.S. Department of Education. We are systematically reviewing the curriculum to make sure we are teaching the most important skills and knowledge, and we are writing assessments so we know if students are learning the material. We have highly qualified teachers and a professional development program to help teachers meet the needs of our changing student population. We take pride in the fact that our overall student achievement continues to improve each year even among student groups that are considered at-risk of failing. Our improvement simply is not good enough by No Child Left Behind standards.
Somewhere during this improvement plan, our administrative team experienced an awakening. The district improvement plan process has been an inspiring exercise — an opportunity we nearly missed because it looked like busy-work.
Our frustration has been replaced by a renewed spirit that our goals have been a little short-sighted. Therefore in 2007, we are resolved to shift our focus from adequate to having all children achieve at high levels.
We should be proud that 73 percent of our overall student population scored at proficient or above in reading and that 68 percent scored proficient or above in math. We also should be pleased that our five-year trend in Kansas assessment scores is an upward slope in many groups, including the all-student group, low-income students, Hispanic students, African-American students and English language learners.
However, we should not be satisfied with these results because they also tell another story. More than one-fourth of our students — 27 percent — were not proficient in reading and nearly one-third of our students — 32 percent — were not proficient in math last year. We cannot be proud of these statistics, and our district improvement plan has caused us to focus more on these numbers.
We have come to realize that we are using far too much energy trying to achieve AYP, which is simply a minimum standard set by the state and federal governments. We have been distracted by all of the attention given AYP in the media when we should have remained focused on our strategic plan — one that was developed by a group of thoughtful, committed local citizens. Our strategic plan calls for each child, regardless of his or her achievement level, to improve each year in reading and math, as measured by the state assessments. It is possible for us to achieve this goal and still not meet the AYP targets. However, our goal challenges all students — those in advanced courses and those who need extra assistance — to do better than they did before.
Because Kansas Assessments were changed significantly last year, we have not been able to compare changes in individual student performance from 2005 to 2006. However, we hear success stories from principals and teachers at all grade levels where they know students are improving. No changes are planned for the state assessments in 2007, and next year at this time, I will have the data to tell you how we are doing.
That’s my resolution for 2007.