As was recently reported in the Statesville Record & Landmark, the NC Department of Public Instruction has released the preliminary 2009-10 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores. For the 09-10 school year, 19 of 35 (54.3%) of the I-SS schools met the AYP standards. This is quite a drop from the 08-09 school year when 28 of 35 (80.0%) of the I-SS schools met the AYP standards.
For more information you can read the Record & Landmark on-line article following the first link below or check out the AYP information on the I-SS web site using the second link below.
Below is a comparison of the I-SS scores for the last two school years.
(Click on an image to enlarge it.)
(Click on an image to enlarge it.)
Although the AYP scores are not the only indication of the quality of a given school it is an important measure that must be taken seriously when evaluating schools. There are many factors that determine the success of a school and the I-SS administration must examine these factors and find a true path to success.
Perhaps I-SS should take a close look at the Mooresville Graded School district, which had 6 out of 8 (75.0%) of their schools meet the AYP standards. The Mooresville Graded School district has made a concentrated effort to integrate technology in all classrooms and to get computers into the hands of all students. I think that it is time for I-SS to move away from the current I-SS model (aka Baldrige) and move students into the twenty-first century.
From 80% to 54.3%. I think the lack of the ISS MOdel did this one.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if people who actually have experience WITHIN the system would comment. Holliday was a bully.
DeleteSure is a good thing Y'all ran off Doc Holliday isn't it? The results speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteYou can't compare I-SS to Mooresville. You need to compare I-SS with similar suited school systems like Catawba. There are several factors that could go into the demise of these numbers. For example:
ReplyDelete1. The state took away funding to teachers by freezing pay scales.
2. The state took away ABC money that was an incentive for teachers to make sure they reached their goals.
3. Class sizes were increased accross the county.
The I-SS model has not been a proven tool. Yes, the model was used for the last seven years but the life of a school system is like the stock market. It always fluctuates and the numbers are never the same.
Dr. Holliday looked for the job he has. I don't that anyone "ran" him off and to think that means that you believe someone was victorious in doing so and you empower them.
Central Office staff has little control over what happens in the classroom. They can give out policies and guidelines but the implementation has to fall at the school levels.
All very good points. What also needs to be discussed are "sub-groups" which can keep a given school from meeting AYP goals.
DeleteMost schools who consistently meet AYP have very few "sub-groups".
Central Office staff used to have some control over, and considerable influence on what happens in schools and classrooms because there were accountability measures in place to ensure students were learning at high levels. Those measures have been "eased up on" this year until they're almost gone now. Still, this has made work easier for a lot of the adults in the district.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who work in the schools every day all know the I-SS Model for Performance Excellence - what Paul calls "Baldrige" - is barely a glimmer of what it was before, so it certainly doesn't make any logical sense to assert that results are lower because of Baldrige. Logic would tell us the reverse is closer to the truth.
The results reported here are no surprise to any of us who lead classrooms and schools in I-SS. We have felt the winds of change with the change in district leadership this year. We lost a visionary and strong willed superintendent who cared far more about improving student performance than massaging adult egos. Whether he left due to being fed up with the gossip and lies spread here or because he was recruited and was offered a new and exciting professional challenge in KY is something only he and the BOE know.
Leading our district now is a very nice man who is neither strong willed nor visionary and whose focus has been, from day one, to make the adults happy - mostly principals and executive directors and a few others in the central office. To that end, he has moved people around and moved people out to make other people happy. He has "eased up" on many expectations and requirements in order to make people happy. To the constant frustration of his staff, he has routinely made decisions and then changed them and then changed them again to try to make people happy. Early on,he even went out of his way to make our own Paul K. happy. He has probably realized too late that you can never make everybody happy. And, when the focus is on the adults, the students suffer - always.
There are teachers and principals and one or two district folks still here who remain committed to high student performance no matter what it takes, though several have found opportunities in other places, but without that passion at the top of the district, the I-SS flame will slowly dim and that's what's happening now. And we all know it. Does the BOE realize it?
AYP is not the best or only measure of student performance, but it does send up a red flag. What will next year hold?
I-SS used to be very clear on its mission and vision because we had a visionary leader who never allowed us to forget, and yes, that irritated the lazy and the lost among us because it meant hard work and different work. But, what is our mission now? What is our vision? Are we moving forward or backward?
Paul, on this blog in the past you claimed that the improved results in ISS during the past seven straight years were not because of the ISS model you call Baldrige, but were actually accomplished IN SPITE OF Baldrige, and were due simply to the hard work and dedication of the teachers in ISS. But now that results are poorer, you claim that Baldrige is to blame even when very little of that model is still around. It's time to realize that "Baldrige" was never the problem and that simply having hard working teachers has never been the answer.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with this measurement tool is that it is from the long arm of the government and centralized planning. It is very well understood that these AYP goals measure only certain aspects of student learning according to government standards. It does not measure what students are not taught. And there is much our students in this system and many other systems across the nation are not taught that is necessary to truly providng our youth an adequate education.
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad that the government has such a strong hand in education today. And that is now glaringly apparent in our current American society.
If a school missed only one of it's AYP goals in one group and it is now only 17 of 18 instead of 18 of 18 as the year before than to the general public, what does that mean? Does anyone in the general public really know? The answer is no.
Is 54 really a significant number to 80 in this game of crazy numbers in education? Maybe it is to the government, but than I rest my case. Is scoring 95% proficiency on a math test really a prominent number if one only had to pass 26% of the test to be proficient? Personally, I do not believe so. Knowing the extra information gives the reported numbers a totally different perspective. Would anyone out there agree with that?
Again, there is much lost in this numbers game without an accurate explanation of what everthing means in comparison to ????? Is the measurement tool being used a good method of determing adequate progress. It probably is not.
To repeat, the real outcome of education in Iredell County, Mooresville, North Carolina or any other state in the union is in a sad state of affairs. Holliday performed no miracle and Johnson is not interfering with any "real progress".
4:16 - That comment is right on target!! Scores are good "it must be the great, dedicated teachers" - Scores are bad "must be that nasty baldrige". I think there are many in the district that saw this coming.
ReplyDeleteJuly 27, 2010 6:19 PM got it backward...THIS is the way it has been --
ReplyDeleteScores are good "it must be the great amazing Holiday's Baldrige" - Scores are bad "must be those lazy, uncaring teachers."
Reality?
Larger class sizes, combined with incredibly challenging socio-economic times, combined with appallingly inadequate parenting skills equals students who are academically ill-prepared for their futures.
Amen, must be one of the soldiers in the trenches doing the real work!
DeleteMiraculously though, schools across the country with very little money manage to work with these ill-prepared, poorly parented students who have been shoved into crowded classrooms and they produce high achievement. That's reality, too.
ReplyDeleteAs much as it may feel comforting to list all the reasons why the job is hard, helping students achieve at high levels is still the job.
There will always be anecdotal examples of the stray success story-- and those are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHere's more reality; the population of the US is getting more and more diverse with each passing year.The importance of individuality is ingrained in Americans from birth. We are a "me" nation.
The bill of goods being sold in the US is the fairy tale that public school systems can differentiate academic instruction down to the individual level. This is, of course, impossible.
In Japan - -a country which has a successful public school system and one with which the US's own floundering public schools are often compared -- students who are behind get tutored after school and students who are ahead also get tutoring after school. Paying for the tutoring is the responsibility of the students' parents.
The outcome of this faulty fairy tale premise -- that US public schools can be all things to all people and cure all of society's ills -- is the false conclusion that the work teachers are doing is sub-par. And some teachers are sub-par. But, (speaking of NC here) when one considers the abysmal starting pay for teachers, combined with the ridiculous THIRTY steps that must be scaled to reach the top, it is surprising that we have as many good teachers as we do.
Yes, all teachers are quite aware of what their profession is expected to accomplish, and I.m sure that most teachers have been, and will keep striving for perfection. But, until parents and the rest of society reach perfection in their respective roles, it is likely that the things will continue as they are.
Some experts in public education are of the opinion that for there to be genuine, long-lasting improvement in America's public education, we'll have to endure a complete breakdown of the system and then a re-building.
In the meantime, it is unfair to blame the classroom teacher when "ill-prepared, poorly parented students who have been shoved into crowded classrooms" do not exit those sardine-can classrooms ready for the next grade level or university.
4:30 pm - Are you suggesting that you only have to get 26% correct to pass the Math assessment? If so you are wrong...
ReplyDelete10:23AM
ReplyDeleteThe system of scoring fluctuates from year to year. The example I gave was from two years ago. Forgive me for using that example, but that is a truism from two years ago. Honestly, I don't know what it was this year or the year before. Do you? That is my point. What does all this data really mean and how is the proficiency of score actually determined? I think that is an important point to consider.
But again, that is the problem with the
ridiculous tools we use to measure within our system. The measurement tool that was created by our own system to rank us within the 115 districts is also a misguided tool. It may make for good headlines and personal gain, but la de da. I do not see any validity in that comparison.
Do you remember when our legislature would ridicule the NC educational system for poor performance when using the comparison of SAT with the other 49 states? Was that a fair comparison? It was a total misuse of data to make that comparison.
Now, can anyone tell me why? Can you explain the poor misinterpretation of the comparison of those numbers?
There are many variables involved in comparing numbers and some are adept at making anything look good.
Again, we must be careful with the use of numbers (data)for some may have personal motivation to paint a picture of their liking.
Our students deserve a well rounded education in all areas. They don't need to be prepped to pass certain tests so the scores look good.
Would anyone dare to question that is the direction our leaders have chosen to take?
Also, has anyone read Holliday's and Clarke's book - Running all the Red Lights?
Your example from two years ago is false and it does not fluctuate from year to year. The point you are trying to make about the use of data is well taken. At the same time, too many people take statements on here to be factual when they are not.
ReplyDeleteHere is the percent needed to score a level 3 for each grade level (this has been in place and stayed the exact same since 2006)
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/testing/reports/eograwscoreranges-math.pdf
9:05PM
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reference to the site.
Than is it correct to consider that 48-53% would be the range of proficiency for the grade levels listed rather than my stated 26%?
And no one should take statements from a blog to be factual since much of what is stated is opinion based according to the topic.
Cloverleaf did not make AYP. The school was built for 850 but more than 900 are attending and now they are planning to set up a mobile unit due to overcrowding.
ReplyDeleteHow tragic that a new school would need a mobile unit when Third Creek and NB Mills have empty classrooms. How interesting that the system is taking 2% from the teachers bonus yet they have money to spend to set up mobile units.
Over $123,000 can be saved if the IFs and ITs worked 10 months like teachers instead of being paid for an extra month. That would be 41 folks at an estimated salary of $3000. Why do they need to work when teachers/students are not in session???
ReplyDeleteAYP, the teachers at my school still had the matrix, PDSA etc so nothing changed this school year, so the ISS Model was alive at my school so your point is??????
ReplyDeleteLet's save over TWO MILLION DOLLARS and eliminate the IF position entirely!
ReplyDeleteI must be in a different system because Baldridge was alive and well at our school. Someone should have told us if not ,because our PDSAs were done every week and our L to J was done every week. We did not make AYP and our teachers worked hard and tutored those who needed it. I guess it was our principal's fault.
ReplyDeleteI remember a few years ago only 17% was all you needed to pass or make a 3 . Too bad the state moved it up . Data is data. You can make it whatever is wanted.
ReplyDeleteOh heck guys. We all know that we did not have the same work ethic or motivation (ulterior)as the former Superintendent. No one is that good or whatever. Afterall, he and a former assistant superintendent wrote their cure all book on how to improve ALL schools.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you get it. If you eliminate the IF's where will they go? Answer = The classroom. They won't get pink slips and the teachers that weren't let go this year will be let go because those IFs have to be placed. If you eliminate the ITCs? Answer = The classroom. They won't get pink slips and the teachers who were saved because of where the ITCs were will now lose their jobs. If you take the IFs and make them 10 months then those who have a masters in admin will be made principals not returned to the classroom and will retain their 11 month status. If you eliminate the ITCs then you will not only kill any progress the school system makes to improve technology you will have abandoned a core part of the educational system created to promote a 21st Century Classroom. If you make the ITCs 10 months then how will they create training materials and coordinate with administration about upcoming programs and initiatives required by the school system or law. Those of you who think you don't need support in technology have your head in the sand. If you are that ignorant please leave education because it has changed and dead weight is not needed anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhen one considers the extreme budgetary constraints that are now reality, it is a no-brainer that superfluous positions (such as the IF one) must go. The canned response of "more teachers will lose their positions" is simply irrelevant. That's just the way it is. I-SS should be in the business of providing quality education for students, not about creating/maintaining jobs.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly, the IF's are the most highly qualified teachers, so it is plain old common sense that they should be teaching students -- it has been OVER-established that they are providing NO service to ANYone in their current capacity.
There is excuse, after excuse, after excuse as to why IF's should not be returned to the classroom. The fact is that the classroom is exactly where they belong.
I'm left wondering something...if IF's are truly passionate about making a REAL difference in the lives of students, then why the balking at the prospect of returning to the place where they can actually be worthwhile contributors education.
> can actually be worthwhile contributors TO education
ReplyDeleteAug. 10, 12:03 AM: As many of us have said before the IFs could replace teachers who are retiring or resigning. That way no other teacher would have to lose his or her job. Although it might take a couple of years to cycle all the IFs back into the classroom it would start saving money immediately.
ReplyDeletePaul - I dont think they are filling those positions as a way to balance out cuts...
ReplyDeleteI get why people don't like the IFs but I don't see why so many people are against the ITCs. I actually see them out in the schools helping teachers.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why there is so much hate on the ITCs either. My ITC has always helped me when I needed it and he would always answer his e-mail promptly and come out to the school when I needed him to be there. If there was something new I wanted to try and it was borderline on being allowed he would always try to advocate the teacher's voice to his superiors to have something unblocked or let us be a "test" group to try to gain approval.
ReplyDeleteI commend my ITC and I am sure the other ITCs are just as qualified. I hope ISS keeps them on board and lets them keep up the good work they do.
Who actually said anyone was against ITC's?
ReplyDeleteThe ITC assigned to our school would always have excuses as to why he could not be at our school, mtgs, etc. I think all Central Office positions should be monitored!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you are talking about. There is only one male in the ITC department. He has always been willing to help me out. Maybe you should e-mail him and see what he is doing. Have you asked for his help? Or, are you just sitting by and complaining because he is not a mind reader as to what you need in the classroom. He always comes when I requested him or he would reply to my e-mails quickly. Seriously, have you tried to contact him?
ReplyDeleteI know who you are talking about. He has always been nice, courteous and prompt when I need him too. Maybe he has too many schools or too many duties on top of what he should be doing in order to reach everyone. I know this year he has been given two more schools so his days may be filled up with more meetings in the future or other top priority events. Maybe we should hire more ITCs. Do you realize that we have an IF in every school and yet we have 1 ITC to every 4 or 6 schools? I think we need more ITCs,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous poster. You should really contact him and see if he can come out to help. I just don't believe you have contacted him appropriately.
That ITC does a great job for me. I know the ITCs were pulled in last year for some meetings with the IFS. A lot more was required of the ITCs from CO last year and I hear it is going to be even worse this year. You really should e-mail him. I can't believe he would just ignore a request for assistance.
ReplyDeleteWe have been assigned a new ITC this year, YEAH! Perhaps we will be offered HELP! with integrating technology, not just Dash etc. Never figured out what she did with her time as other schools she was assigned to would tell us they never saw her either.
ReplyDelete