Raising the bar, closing the gap
John Heim, Emporia superintendent of schools
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
We have cause to celebrate in Emporia. Student achievement results in our public schools are phenomenal!
I recently shared preliminary results of our state reading and math assessments with the Emporia Board of Education. The results, along with our Adequate Yearly Progress status, will be formally announced next week by the Kansas State Board of Education.
The results are nothing short of phenomenal. Not only has the district achieved the AYP targets in reading and math for 2008, our students have shown a steady upward trend in achievement in both subjects over the past seven years. Every one of our subgroups has improved by significant amounts.
Our community should be proud of the teachers, administrators, support staff and students who have worked hard to achieve these results. The Board of Education also deserves credit for supporting our improvement plan. It is uplifting news to report as we get ready to start a new school year in Emporia .
We have posted the data on our Web site at www.usd253.org for readers to study in detail, but here is a summary of the improvements by subgroup from 2002 to 2008:
Reading Proficiency
• All Students, up 44 percent
• Low-Income Students, up 77 percent
• Hispanic Students, up 95 percent
• Asian Students, up 118 percent
• African American Students, up 60 percent
• Students with Disabilities, up 147 percent
• English Language Learners, up 135 percent (since 2003)
Math Proficiency:
• All Students, up 48 percent
• Low-Income Students, up 97 percent
• Hispanic Students, up 87 percent
• Asian Students, up 101 percent
• African Americans Students, up 183 percent
• Students with Disabilities, up 150 percent
• English Language Learners, up 74 percent (since 2003).
Even more phenomenal is that our teachers are closing the achievement gap between some of our traditionally underFperforming students. At the same time, they are raising the achievement of high performing students. The achievement gaps in reading and math are shrinking for our low-income, Hispanic and African American students as well as students with disabilities and English language learners.
I attribute our success to the hard work of our staff and students as well as the focus provided by the District Improvement Plan. This plan includes three primary components that are working very well.
First are the Professional Learning Communities, a structured system for teachers to regularly meet and discuss student data and adapt instruction based on the information. Second is our Response to Intervention model, also know as a multi-tiered system of supports. This also is a structured system of supports for students who need extra help beyond the core curriculum. Finally, we have a specific focused curriculum that has been aligned to the state standards. It outlines what teachers need to teach and when students need to know it.
The collective work of our district has successfully raised the achievement bar in Emporia . The challenge this year is to keep the momentum going. It truly is a happy new school year!
paulkersey (anonymous) says...
Congrats to all my teacher buddies on a job well done! (I'm not a teacher, btw)
August 6, 2008 at 3:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
billclinton (anonymous) says...
Who's trashing the teachers now?
August 7, 2008 at 11:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawker (anonymous) says...
I don't often agree with Ted Kennedy, but I have to say, his "No Child Left Behind" idea seems to be working. Test scores are finally improving nicely, which was not the case before Kennedy's program. What the Kennedy program has done is force administrators, at all levels, to put the tools in the teachers' hands that let them work their magic, which they can do well if left alone. I agree with some of its critics that Kennedy's plan will need tweaking in the years ahead because Kennedy's legislation requires kids to ultimately attain 100% on test scores. I suspect that Senator Kennedy understood that that is unrealistic, but it is a worthy goal. Kennedy has represented Massachusetts in the Senate since November, 1962 when he won a special election to finish his brother Jack's term, and I suspect that his "No Child Left Behind" Bill is the one and only Kennedy proposal that I have ever supported. Teddy did do well with this one.
August 8, 2008 at 1:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Good to hear you say so, jayhawker. I too have been an ardent supporter of NCLB since the very beginning when as a teacher myself, I had to learn all about it from scratch and apply its tenets. Many teachers did not agree with it in the beginning. Many even jumped off the bus.
Before NCLB, teachers, even the best ones, were all over the place with regard to curriculum. There were no standards to speak of. Now, with standards in place, teachers have a map and there is no question what must be taught and when. Some have argued that this is "teaching to the test" when indeed it is not. Any teacher can teach those standards any way he or she sees fit, and creativity continues to be a teacher's best tool for making lessons come alive.
Once the school is aligned to state standards, everything falls neatly into place. The trick is to get everyone on the same page, and it sounds like Emporia is finally there. Good for them!!!
Have a good school year everyone!
August 8, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )