Fayette County's test scores rise slightly
Contact: Lisa Deffendall • First Posted: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Despite bright spots, unacceptable achievement gaps persist
Student achievement levels in Fayette County Public Schools rose slightly overall, but progress for individual schools included a mix of slight gains and decreases. Although overall student performance continues to significantly outpace state averages, the dramatic gains characterizing results in recent years did not continue last spring.
Data released Sept. 27 shows results across the district were mixed in the final year of the Kentucky Core Content Test. Some schools posted noteworthy gains, while other schools saw disappointing decreases. Because of gains at the middle and high school levels, the overall score for the district rose to the highest index so far – 94.
“We need to celebrate what’s being done well and recognize what’s not working," said new Superintendent Tom Shelton. “It’s incumbent upon the district to determine what supports we need to provide schools to continue to grow.”
Despite the district’s targeted focus on closing achievement gaps, disparities widened in every single subgroup area, including race, socio-economic status and other classifications such as students with special needs and limited English proficiency. Shelton called the most recent test scores further evidence that the timing is right to take a step back and analyze what efforts are working and what programs need to be reconsidered.
Dramatic state and national changes being implemented this year also provide an ideal opportunity for a re-examination of district instructional efforts. External changes include the implementation of a new curriculum, state tests and accountability system, and last week’s announcement that Kentucky will likely be released from the current structure and requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
“As we look to a new model of assessing our students and schools, we need to build bridges to where we’re going,” Shelton said. “We need to take time to determine what’s not working and be upfront and open about what we’re going to do about it.”
Understanding the test score results
Kentucky Core Content Test / Transition Index
The latest data shows that in the final year of the Kentucky Core Content Test and its “transition index,” 25 Fayette schools posted gains, 17 schools saw declines and eight schools had no change. Indices for middle and high schools rose two points each, to 97 and 81 respectively, while the elementary index dipped by a point to 103.
Despite the relatively flat achievement overall, there is cause for celebration at individual schools, Shelton noted. Eight of the district’s 12 middle schools also posted increases, with a seven-point jump at Tates Creek Middle and a six-point gain at Winburn Middle. Tates Creek Elementary School reached a score of 100 for the first time, and both Arlington and Harrison elementary schools earned nine-point increases.
Three years ago, the transition index at Harrison Elementary languished at 77. With support from the Fayette County Board of Education, $1.2 million was invested into a “turnaround project,” which added extended instructional time, intervention staff and classes in arts and world language at Harrison. The goal at the time was to reach 100 within three years.
“The staff at Harrison Elementary embraced the challenge and committed themselves to turning the school around. They have proven that all children can learn at high levels,” said Elementary Schools Director Julie Hawkins. “This is just the beginning of the successes to come.”
Achievement gaps
In the area of achievement gaps between students of different races, several schools made noteworthy progress. The percentage of African-American students reaching proficiency in reading at Glendover and Stonewall elementaries and Lafayette High rose by double digits and gaps with white students declined. In math, double-digit increases in the percentage of African-American students reaching proficiency were seen at Arlington, James Lane Allen and Stonewall elementary schools while gaps were closed.
Improvement for students who qualify for free and reduced lunch was most dramatic in math, where students living in poverty at Deep Springs Elementary, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Tates Creek high schools posted double-digit gains, and achievement gaps also narrowed by double-digits. Progress on closing gaps was especially noteworthy at James Lane Allen Elementary School, where scores for African-American, Hispanic and impoverished students improved in both reading and math and gaps decreased by more than 10 percentage points in some cases.
While the test will change this spring, Shelton said, the district must remain committed to raising achievement levels for all students and reducing disparities between subgroups.
“We are accountable to our community for the achievement of all students,” Shelton said. “Our board is committed to ensuring that all students make at least one year of growth and that students who are not on grade level make more than a year’s growth.”
That model fits perfectly with the accountability system the state will roll out this year: Unbridled Learning for All. The new system of evaluating schools will include measures of achievement in the content areas of reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing; a calculation of achievement gaps; accountability for annual student growth; graduation rates; and determinations of college and career readiness.
College and career readiness
In advance of the new model, the state again this year released measures of college and career readiness. This marks only the second year that these scores were calculated, with last year being a benchmark year. Shelton was pleased to see that each of the district’s five high schools increased the percentage of students graduating career and college ready, with now more than half of the 2011 graduates in the district meeting those benchmarks. These gains were accomplished at the same time that the number of graduates also rose by 10 percent.
“Senate Bill 1 places the primary focus on college and career readiness for our graduates,” Shelton said. “It’s a new measure, but we’ve got a great jumpstart on reaching our goal. That’s a credit not only to the work happening in our traditional high schools but also to the specialized opportunities Fayette County has carved out for our students in programs like The Learning Center and Opportunity Middle College.”
No Child Left Behind
A Sept. 30 announcement by President Barack Obama will likely change the way No Child Left Behind is implemented in Kentucky next year. But in what may be the final year of the current NCLB model, 21 of Fayette County’s 50 schools met all of their federal targets. Local results mirror statewide trends, where 42 percent of schools in Kentucky made Adequate Yearly Progress. As a district, Fayette County met 14 of its 25 goals, or 56 percent of the targets.
Visit www.fcps.net/data for more information.