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Post by gatormom on Apr 20, 2008 6:42:22 GMT -5
Waubonsie focusing on plan to meet NCLB standards
By Justin Kmitch Daily Herald
Published: 4/18/2008 12:22 AM
Roughly six months have passed since Waubonsie Valley officials learned their high school would spend it's fifth consecutive year falling short of federal mandates for "adequate yearly progress."
Late last year, schools such as Waubonsie that had failed to meet national No Child Left Behind guidelines for the fifth consecutive year were given four options: fire the staff, reopen as a charter school, hire a private firm to operate the public school or find another way to significantly restructure.
This week, Principal Jim Schmid outlined the school's plan for this year and the future and it centers on the fourth of those options.
He said Waubonsie is in a "difficult situation" with students averaging 22.6 on the ACT yet still not meeting goals based on sub-group scores and "extremely difficult" state expectations.
According to the school's 2007 report card, its black, Hispanic, disabled and economically challenged students failed to meet state standards in reading. Only the black students fared better in math.
"When we restructure, we're talking about changes to the overall education system in an effort to significantly change student achievement," Schmid said Thursday. "In our fifth year we're supposed to write suggestions and plan. The sixth year is the implementation year, but we've been looking at data for three or four years so we're already rolling on this."
In an attempt to increase the scores, Schmid said the district is doing a "compilation of things that would help us maintain the good things and modify what we're doing wrong."
The school already has begun staffing "learning centers" throughout the building where teachers are assigned to assist kids who need additional help in core areas and any students doing well but needing assistance with specific parts of the course.
"We believe it's addressing those needs," he said.
The school also has implemented double algebra and academic literacy block classes in which students take two consecutive hours of the subject at their freshman or sophomore levels.
Because science and social studies aren't vigorously tested, Schmid said students then would take their required three years of those subjects beginning in their sophomore years.
"These students may not be as able to take as many electives because they've had to take a double dose of core classes," Schmid said. "But there's a belief that you're not going to excel in those either until you can master the basic math and literacy skills."
The district also will bring back for a second year its college test preparation class, which 30 percent of the students are taking.
Schmid said school faculty and officials also have tried to do a variety of things related to the specific improvement of black and Latino students.
"We've broken our staff into small learning community groups where we discuss race and relationships and how we can be more culturally responsive," he said. "We've got a 92 percent white teaching staff and 39 percent population of students of color so we talk about being sensitive to the needs of those students."
Moving forward, Schmid said the school is focusing on its mission to develop meaningful relationships with all of the school's students.
"We're educationally and academically solid," he said. "But we need to hold ourselves accountable as the nation's requirements continue to grow more difficult to attain."
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 20, 2008 14:38:18 GMT -5
Has anyone heard anything about expanding the reading and English class time in the junior highs? My sixth grader came home with that shocker the other day and said a teacher told her that. I'm not sure if she heard it right but if our district is lagging behind in reading, maybe there will be changes.
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 21, 2008 13:11:48 GMT -5
I'm very sad today. I went over to the Blue Board. (now nicknamed the Conspiracy Board) and started reading in their thread about this topic. What started out as progressive banter and concern over this problem progressed into a giant conspiracy theory about how the board is rushing to open MV so they can look better in the eyes of NCLB. I had thought there was a spark for some intelligent conversations regarding this issue, but I guess I was wrong.
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Post by gatormom on Apr 21, 2008 14:35:10 GMT -5
I get pretty angry about this whole discussion. In order to understand why WV is where it is at, you have to first understand NCLB standards. I am pulling this from memory, so anyone who wants to verify it can go to the ISBE or contact the district.
First of all, a school such as Waubonsie can have outstanding ACT scores but if even one subgroup fails, the school fails. IIRC a subgroup can make up as few as 40 students (around there). Also, keep in mind, Neuqua did not make adequate yearly progress last year as well. I believe they failed one subgroup.
Second thing to keep in mind, the standards for making AYP go up every year. So those students targeted as falling behind may be brought up to last year's standards but fail this year's standards.
Talk to some educators. Most believe that few high schools will be able to stay off this list as the standards become more difficult to achieve.
ETA: The concept behind NCLB is great. The way it is being implemented is just not working.
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 21, 2008 14:52:31 GMT -5
I get pretty angry about this whole discussion. In order to understand why WV is where it is at, you have to first understand NCLB standards. I am pulling this from memory, so anyone who wants to verify it can go to the ISBE or contact the district. First of all, a school such as Waubonsie can have outstanding ACT scores but if even one subgroup fails, the school fails. IIRC a subgroup can make up as few as 40 students (around there). Also, keep in mind, Neuqua did not make adequate yearly progress last year as well. I believe they failed one subgroup. Second thing to keep in mind, the standards for making AYP go up every year. So those students targeted as falling behind may be brought up to last year's standards but fail this year's standards. Talk to some educators. Most believe that few high schools will be able to stay off this list as the standards become more difficult to achieve. ETA: The concept behind NCLB is great. The way it is being implemented is just not working. Thanks for your perspective, gatormom. I also believe that although it is a great program on paper, it just isn't working the way it is supposed to. I'm sure there are tons of schools not making the scores, not just ours.
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Post by gatormom on Apr 21, 2008 15:02:51 GMT -5
I have been asking a few questions and got some answers. The number of children in a subgroup must be 40 to be reported. One child can be in more than one subgroup. A child could be in a minority, an IEP and low income subgroups.
Another thing. In Illinois, the percentage of children in a subgroup who must score either "meets" or "exceeds" goes up just about every year by 7.5%. For this year, that number is 62.5%. IN 2014, that number will be 100%. So in 2014, if even one child fails the exam, the school is considered not in compliance.
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 21, 2008 15:06:02 GMT -5
I have been asking a few questions and got some answers. The number of children in a subgroup must be 40 to be reported. One child can be in more than one subgroup. A child could be in a minority, an IEP and low income subgroups. Another thing. In Illinois, the percentage of children in a subgroup who must score either "meets" or "exceeds" goes up just about every year by 7.5%. For this year, that number is 62.5%. IN 2014, that number will be 100%. So in 2014, if even one child fails the exam, the school is considered not in compliance. Thanks for the info. Looks like some pretty wild expectations from our government.
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Arwen
Master Member
Posts: 933
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Post by Arwen on Apr 21, 2008 16:28:53 GMT -5
While I am not one for conspiracy theories and I don't think that NCLB is a great program, I think this is a very serious problem for our school district. If we don't make AYP (and given the history of test scores someone posted on blue in some of the sub-groups, I think this is almost a given), the consequences are really dire. I don't think NV is in such a bad place because it hasn't been failing AYP for years now. Does opening MV and reshuffling students restart the NCLB clock for WV?
ETA: Just want to add that I am in no way bashing WV here. I understand that the dire situation is caused by flaws in NCLB, and I am sure that the teaching staff and administration are working very hard to try to meet AYP. The problem is that until the federal gov't. changes NCLB, we are subject to its faults and its consequences. Not too pretty.
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Post by justvote on Apr 21, 2008 16:42:54 GMT -5
Has anyone heard anything about expanding the reading and English class time in the junior highs? My sixth grader came home with that shocker the other day and said a teacher told her that. I'm not sure if she heard it right but if our district is lagging behind in reading, maybe there will be changes. She heard it right. Dr. D. does not like the 10 period 39 minute classes, especially for the core subjects. He would like to see implemented a longer time slot for core subjects - 50+ minutes per day. This would then affect the number of electives your child will be able to take. IMO - they can get rid of Connections (a waste of time) and shorten the lunch period - 39 minutes is way too long for lunch. Maybe by just doing that they'll have the additional instructional time to expand the time slot for core subjects.
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Arwen
Master Member
Posts: 933
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Post by Arwen on Apr 21, 2008 16:44:35 GMT -5
Has anyone heard anything about expanding the reading and English class time in the junior highs? My sixth grader came home with that shocker the other day and said a teacher told her that. I'm not sure if she heard it right but if our district is lagging behind in reading, maybe there will be changes. She heard it right. Dr. D. does not like the 10 period 39 minute classes, especially for the core subjects. He would like to see implemented a longer time slot for core subjects - 50+ minutes per day. This would then affect the number of electives your child will be able to take. IMO - they can get rid of Connections (a waste of time) and shorten the lunch period - 39 minutes is way too long for lunch. Maybe by just doing that they'll have the additional instructional time to expand the time slot for core subjects. 39 minutes seems short, especially for math. How many electives do MS get? What is Connections?
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 21, 2008 16:50:43 GMT -5
She heard it right. Dr. D. does not like the 10 period 39 minute classes, especially for the core subjects. He would like to see implemented a longer time slot for core subjects - 50+ minutes per day. This would then affect the number of electives your child will be able to take. IMO - they can get rid of Connections (a waste of time) and shorten the lunch period - 39 minutes is way too long for lunch. Maybe by just doing that they'll have the additional instructional time to expand the time slot for core subjects. 39 minutes seems short, especially for math. How many electives do MS get? What is Connections? Connections is at the end of the day. I think they can finish homework and they talk about certain things related to school. I think they have a Friday forum where they can talk about problems and help each other come up with solutions. IMO it's probably not needed. I would rather see that gone than the exploratories.
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 21, 2008 17:41:56 GMT -5
I see one of the items on the revised agenda for the meeting tonight in their work session is middle school schedule.
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Post by gatormom on Apr 21, 2008 17:46:41 GMT -5
She heard it right. Dr. D. does not like the 10 period 39 minute classes, especially for the core subjects. He would like to see implemented a longer time slot for core subjects - 50+ minutes per day. This would then affect the number of electives your child will be able to take. IMO - they can get rid of Connections (a waste of time) and shorten the lunch period - 39 minutes is way too long for lunch. Maybe by just doing that they'll have the additional instructional time to expand the time slot for core subjects. 39 minutes seems short, especially for math. How many electives do MS get? What is Connections? 39 minutes is very short especially for math. The accelerated match and PA math students are doing high school math in 7th and 8th grade, 39 minutes a class in MS and 46 minutes in HS for the same math.
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Post by rural on Apr 21, 2008 18:20:42 GMT -5
I thought connections was the filler class for the children who didn't take band, chorus or orchestra. I agree that 39 minutes for math, english and science seemed tight to me. Just about enough time to introduce a new idea and start to get comfortable with it when it's time to change classes. However, I don't know that 7 minutes would be that much of a difference each day. Are HS periods really just 46 minutes? I'm sure to the students it feels like an eternity!
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Post by JWH on Apr 21, 2008 18:38:23 GMT -5
I thought connections was the filler class for the children who didn't take band, chorus or orchestra. I agree that 39 minutes for math, english and science seemed tight to me. Just about enough time to introduce a new idea and start to get comfortable with it when it's time to change classes. However, I don't know that 7 minutes would be that much of a difference each day. Are HS periods really just 46 minutes? I'm sure to the students it feels like an eternity! At Hill MS, Connections is exactly that Rural. Granted, 70% of the kids are in band, chorus, or orchestra, so it's a smaller group. I can see ~39 minutes at the Middle School age, but think for HS you could really use a little more time (especially for certain subjects like math, science, etc.).
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