AYP - Faculty Meeting

Today's blog will probably be written in three chunks. We're having a faculty meeting looking at our school stats for AYP. In Utah, CRT scores form the basis for AYP progress. For the uninitiated - AYP stands for Annual Yearly Progress - and determines whether our school is considered successful.

• Our demographics have taken a hit over all the last few years, with a slight increase this year. Our Hispanic group, which represents just under 5%, has pulled our stats down. So there's been a determined effort to work with these students to get their scores up. Our "free school lunch" numbers have also increased dramatically to just over 26%. Increased poverty means increased stress in the home. Meaning we have to work even harder to make sure the kids feel safe and productive here in school.

• Mobility rates are estimated to be over 27%. Those account for students that move during the year. This means that over a quarter of our test scores are based on students who haven't been here the whole year. These students are especially at risk for failure, having missed instruction. Attendance, we have discovered, is the greatest determiner of successful students. 

• The next factor we cover is the school permit report. These are students who are attending students outside of their boundaries. That means students that have deliberately transferred here, and those whom we've lost to other schools. Our numbers are in general moving up. We've become quite popular, which I consider to be the results of our efforts over the last several years to improve service. Jan just said that about 20% of our students are here on permit. This is remarkable, considering we can offer transportation.
• Grades - After extensive programs to help students complete assignments (ZAP, Concept Mastery, Enrichment, ASD, Friday School, etc.), our scores are improving and we now have just over 2% "F's." We have almost 50% of our students earning "A's." The bad news is that our grades indicate greater success in our students than CRT scores indicate. We speculate that CRT factors are very narrow in what they measure, and that we want to develop a broader range of skills. The CRT is also "college ready," and the skills measured should prepare them for the SAT. *Side note - my research last night on evolving education indicates that emphasis on SAT scores for college entrance is being gradually replaced with digital portfolios. I hope this is true. That would eliminate the problem with narrow academic expectations. Unfortunately, this school will continue to find ways to help students increase their CRT scores. But without "teaching to the test." Ha ha...   ** Another side note for SPED students. My scores are partly based on IEP goals, which are adjusted to the reality of student ability. 
• AYP - where do we stand. First, AYP measures L.A. and Math only. Results can be modified based on participation (attendance) and are measured by 10 different demographic groups (minorities, ESL, SPED, and economically disadvantaged). Our school has a particularly high SPED populations. We have four clusters (severe SPED) and a good resource department, so parents are bring students to us with permits. Schools with a high ESL population will likely fail because they can't understand the language well enough to test well. Remember, we're supposed to make ALL students college ready by 2014. We've increased nearly every year, but there are simply some factors we can't affect. Add to the confusion, the new core is now changing what we're told to teach and what is being tested. The only schools that will be able to pull off the objective are those that can select their students (skim the top scorers of the top and exclude the rest). Also, the state statistics take in grade levels 9-12, and by the time you have students in the 12th grade taking easier classes you know you're working with strugglers. On the other hand, if you offer those same classes in 9th grade and pull in the higher functioning students, you'll get higher scores.
• We did well last year. We'll see what we can pull of this year.
• Summary of my frustration over AYP:

• Limited skills tested
• Little or No adjustment made for struggling students (ESL, SPED, "free lunch")
• No adjustment made for school willing to take struggling students
• No adjustments made for teaching required new core
• Broad stats that may result from factors that aren't recognized (change of core, shift is population tested, economic and familiar issues).