Emporia school superintendent John Heim used a thesaurus to find enough ways to say "excellent" when he talked to the board of education about the district's assessment test results.
"My favorite, though, was 'phenomenal,'" said Heim, who'd looked up that word, too, and decided the definition fit: "Highly extraordinary, prodigious, exceptional ... That's the word I'm going to use" to describe what had been accomplished.
The district had set goals to improve achievements and scores for all students.
Emporia schools had been on a district improvement plan because of its failure to reach Adequate Yearly Progress minimums during the seven years the No Child Left Behind Act has existed.
This year, the district met AYP mandates, he said, before showing the board and those in attendance a breakdown of accomplishments among all students as well as among subgroups. The gaps between achievements by subgroups and all-students group have shrunk, while the all-students group continued to score higher, too.
"I think our results are absolutely phenomenal," Heim said. "I'm so excited about it."
Heim went through a summary of assesment score improvements made from 2002 to 2008, after showing several linear graphs that revealed a steady trend upward. (Test score comparisons for English Language Learners date from 2003 to 2008 in both reading and math.)
Heim also showed comparison columns to illustrate how the achievement gap was closing substantially among the subgroups.
"We are reducing the achievement gap in Emporia, Kansas, and we're doing it at the same time we're improving achievement for our all-students group," Heim said. "Our other student groups are improving at an even faster rate."
The all-students group reading scores improved 44 percent during that time. More impressive, he said, was that the low socio-economic group scores went up 77 percent; Hispanic, up 95 percent, Asian, up 118 percent; African-American, up 60 percent; students with disabilities, up 147 percent; and English Language Learners scores up 135 percent.
Changes were more dramatic in math proficiency assessments. Scores rose by the following percentages: all students, up 48 percent; low socio-economic, 97 percent; Hispanic, 87 percent; Asian, 101 percent; African-American, 183 percent; students with disabilities, 10 percent; and English Language Learners, 74 percent.
"Our teachers know more about teaching reading and teaching math than they've ever known in our district's history," Heim said. "... It's a whole district effort that we put 10 years into and we're seeing the results. ... Support staff, administrators, teachers, the board, everybody's committed to it."
He said the District Improvement Plan created in response to the AYP failures had made a "huge difference."
The professional learning communities concept that brings teachers together in small groups was singled out for credit. Teachers meet regularly to talk about what they're teaching and how they're teaching it, as well as what is proving successful. If a child is having difficulty learning from one method of teaching, the PLC conversations bring in other teaching options that might be more effective for tht child.
"That's not rocket science," Heim said. "Why didn't we think of that before?"
The Response to Intervention project has allowed the district to diagnose students' educational needs earlier and deliver the lessons in alternative ways to gain understanding, he said.
Board member Mike Crouch added another group in for recognition.
"These numbers are evidence of how hard the kids are working in this district," Crouch said. Students are taking their lessons more seriously "and that makes the teachers' jobs easier. I think we should applaud them as well."
George Abel, assistant superintendent of learning and curriculum, noted in a memo to Heim and the board that, while the district made AYP in reading and math, based on the preliminary assessment data, William Allen White elementary school did not reach AYP targets as a building and will be placed on improvement status unless the school achieves AYP in both subjects in 2009.
If the district and Emporia Middle School make AYP again in 2009, both will be off improvement status for the 2009-10 school year, Abel wrote.
The board tabled a proposed GED Plus program until more information becomes available.
Heim provided more details about the proposal, which had been tabled at a meeting earlier this year.
He said that the GED, which is administered by the Kansas Board of Regents' State GED office, indicates that the holder successfully has completed the "General Education Development" test with a score in general education that is comparable to that obtained in four years of high school.
The GED tests given through the Board of Regents are available in English and Spanish.
"If a person has that (GED), there is no way to know whether they had taken it in English or in Spanish," Heim said. "There's no permanent record of that anywhere."
The GED Plus program would allow a satisfactory score on the GED to count as the equivalent of earning 21 high school credits. The GED holder also would need to successfully complete one credit of high school senior English, one credit of American history, a half credit of American government, and a half credit of consumer education. The GED holder then would be eligible for an Emporia High School diploma with a notation that it is a "GED+ program" diploma to distinguish it from a traditional diploma. The student's transcript also would reflect the GED+ notation.
Heim said that additional staff would not be needed for the program, because it could be handled by the GED prep staff already in place.
"At worst, it's revenue-neutral," he said.
The district's instructional council had recommended instituting GED Plus.
Board member Glen Strickland said that he wants the district to document the need or interest in the new program.
"I want to clarify this, John; then maybe we can have action on it."
Board member Mary Helmer questioned why a GED-holder would want to return to high school for four additional credits.
"I'm kind of wondering, once you get your GED, you're wanting to do the plus?" Helmer said.
Helmer and Crouch both suggested checking with human resources specialists and employers, to see whether the GED-Plus held significance to them.
Crouch moved that the board table action on the item, send the proposal back to the instructional council and re-consider it after more details are available and questions have been answered. The motion passed 5-0. Board members Grant Riles and Mike Helbert were absent.
In other action, the board:
-- accepted a donation of 191 books from Gary and Barbara Bleeker. The books, valued at about $1,337, will be placed in Emporia Middle School and Emporia High School libraries. The board passed a resolution to send a thank-you to the Bleekrs.
-- approved an agreement for district programming on Channel 8, the education channel for Cable One. School district programming, in 30-minute segments, will be at 7:30 a.m., noon, and 5:30 p.m. The programming will include up-to-date lunch and breakfast menus for the district.
-- heard a quarterly report from Karen Flood about the status of district funds.
-- formally met Alberto Carrillo, new principal at WAW school. He replaces former principal James Baker.
-- voted to publish the district's 2008-09 budget in preparation for a budget hearing in August.
The board will have a public workshop on the budget on Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Mary Herbert Learning Center. Board members encouraged the public to attend the workshop.
Emporia_Spartan (anonymous) says...
I am so glad that the Emporia BOE is using analysis and restraint in making decisions that include new programs, changes, funding, etc. We have long worried that the Board was a rubber stamp for everything that passed across the agenda, regardless of rationale, cost, or need. I appreciate the leadership that the 3 new Board members have brought during the past year. In this time of unknown enrollment, funding instability and community concerns, fiscal responsibility is crucial. Also, congratulations USD 253 on making AYP. I wish Mr. Carrillo the best at WAW as we try to help the kids reach their goals this school year.
July 23, 2008 at 11:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )