State test scores continue to skyrocket

Contact: Lisa Deffendall • First Posted: Wednesday, September 23, 2009

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A legislative mandate to reconfigure the state’s testing system has changed the way results are released but one thing remains constant: Student achievement in Fayette County continues to skyrocket.

More students are knocking the tops off state tests, more schools have scores over 100, and for the first time as a school district, Fayette County has earned an overall score among the 10 highest K-12 scores in the state.

“I know the reason for this movement is because of what happens in every individual classroom in the district, so I want to take this opportunity to commend our teachers and staff for the work they’re doing with our kids and encourage this to continue,” said Superintendent Stu Silberman.

“I also want to thank the board of education and district staff members who have supported the work in all of our schools. This is an exciting time for us as a district to see that hard work paying off in the area of student achievement where our kids are the beneficiaries.”

WinburnTest results look different this year, with the state reporting how schools fared on No Child Left Behind and what percentages of students scored proficient, distinguished, apprentice and novice on state tests in reading, math, science, social studies and writing. These numbers are critical for educators committed to helping all students earn proficient or distinguished marks.

But parents and community members have grown used to gauging school progress by a single score that incorporates overall student achievement. Thankfully, a trio of independent education advocacy groups has stepped up to help until a new state accountability system is developed.

The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, the Kentucky Association of School Councils, and Council for Better Education have together developed a way to calculate a single score for each school in the state. Their formula is as similar to the old CATS score as possible, but these new index scores cannot be compared with previous years because the General Assembly did away with writing portfolios and tests in arts & humanities and practical living & vocational studies.

In order to gauge annual growth or decline, the three groups have recalculated past years’ test results with the new formula, allowing our community to see trends since 2007.  Like the old CATS scores, these numbers range from 0 to 140, with a score of 100 or above representing that a school has reached proficiency.

According to these “transitional” index scores, 24 of Fayette County’s 50 schools have earned scores beyond the original state benchmark of 100. In addition to the 19 schools that had reached proficiency last year, five new schools – Northern, Sandersville and Liberty elementary schools and Beaumont and Jessie Clark middle schools – have now joined the district’s “century club.”

Schools across the district saw dramatic gains, with 38 of the district’s 49 schools where comparisons could be made posting higher index scores.  Three schools -- Mary Todd, Cardinal Valley and Harrison elementaries – had double-digit gains of 10 or more points.

As a school district, Fayette County earned an overall score of 92.  Among Kentucky school districts that serve students in kindergarten through high school, Fayette’s score of 92 was the 9th highest index earned.

“One of our goals was to be a top 10 school district and although I know how much more work we have ahead of us, it feels good to have met that goal,” Silberman said.

Fayette also had elementary schools in the state’s top 10 (Veterans Park, SCAPA, Rosa Parks, Cassidy, Meadowthorpe and Maxwell) and two middle schools in the state’s top 10 (SCAPA and Morton).

“Our elementary schools have continued to move forward and become leaders in the state, with four of the five top performing elementary schools in Kentucky,” Silberman said. “I am also very encouraged by the movement we are seeing in our middle schools. More middle schools met their federal NCLB goals and two more middle schools have broken 100.”

In contrast, achievement at the high school levels was primarily flat, with two schools posting incremental index scores gains, two schools with declines and one with no change.

“We are very much aware that we have schools where we need to intensify our support and efforts,” he said. “Although we’re seeing some bright lights in our high schools in different areas, with a district record 44 National Merit Semi-Finalists and ACT scores above state and national averages, we’re still not seeing progress being made in the area of state testing.”

Silberman also expressed concerns about decreasing achievement results in some elementary schools.

“I’m deeply concerned about the performance at William Wells Brown, with the overall academic index among the lowest in the state, coupled with the decreases that have taken place there,” he said. “The district provided unprecedented support for both Harrison and William Wells Brown this past year. Harrison made huge gains moving into the mid-90s and WWB dropped. We’re going to reassess the situation and work closely with the staff this year to ensure that this turns around.”

Among the myriad scores released by the Kentucky Department of Education was the latest round of No Child Left Behind results.

Again, Fayette County saw a mix of celebration and call to action.  As a district, Fayette County met 24 of its 25 goals, bringing it closer to meeting federal targets than ever before.  But not enough progress is being made with African-American students in reading.

“As a first step, we’ve already pulled the names of all the kids who didn’t perform at the proficient level to share with the principals. We need to shift the discussion away from numbers and make it about people,” Silberman said. “It’s important that our schools see faces with these numbers. They need to know who the students are so we can get in there and help them directly.”

At the individual school level, 36 of the district’s 50 schools met all their federal targets.  More middle schools than ever before earned adequate yearly progress status.  And notably, Winburn Middle School earned AYP for a second year in a row, taking the school out of improvement status and no longer subject to federal sanctions.

The state release of student achievement data in the areas of reading, math, science, social studies and writing showed that across the board in elementary, reading and math in every subject area, with one exception, more students earned proficient or better marks.  The one area with a decline was high school science.

The next step for teachers, principals and district leaders is to analyze achievement of individual students and groups of students by gender, race, socio-economic status, and other classifications such as special need, gifted and talented and limited English proficiency.

“We’re currently in the process of analyzing the achievement gaps to be able to get with our principals to develop plans of action,” Silberman said. “Ultimately, our goal is for all schools to break 100 and close all achievement gaps. As much good news as we have to share here today, we’re just not close where we want to be with this. We have increased our sense of urgency among our principals about the time frames to close these gaps. We’re seeing some progress being made, but time is running short.

“While visiting Northern last week, I shared with the faculty members that by closing these gaps they’ve changed the lives of so many kids,” Silberman said. “The sense of urgency is great to do this same thing in all of our other schools, because our kids can’t wait.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Winburn Middle School's staff celebrates making “adequate yearly progress” under No Child Left Behind for the second year in a row. The school no longer faces federal sanctions. (Photo by Linda Dawahare)