October 8, 2012
Each year, Arkansas public schools need to meet Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) or annual measurable progress. With the new Common Core Standards in place, it was necessary for the state to restructure how it looks at the levels of proficiency for the combined population of students at each district and its subgroups. For 2012, the Arkansas State Department of Education set new, ambitious, but achievable AMOs for schools to help close the achievement gap between higher achieving students and lower achieving students. To identify schools with large achievement gaps, the Arkansas State Department of Education has created a Targeted Achievement Gap Group (TAGG) consisting of English Language Learners, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students. This was created to eliminate multiple counting of students who are in more than one subgroup, and it also holds schools more accountable for the ELL, economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities subpopulations. This method of accountability is known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The ADE has assigned our school a school improvement specialist to assist in identifying needs of lower achieving students and to monitor implementation of interventions.
For the academic year 2012, both the Hermitage Elementary and Hermitage High Schools became Needs Improvement Focus Schools. With this new status, what is important will be measured, and there will be flexibility to redirect resources to serve our students with the greatest needs. The elementary school is an Achieving School in Literacy, with the combined population scoring 6.09% above the AMO set by the state, and the Targeted Achievement Gap Group (TAGG) scoring 6.75% above the state’s AMO. Even though the combined population of students was only 2.85% below the new AMO set by the state in math, and the Targeted Achievement Gap Group (TAGG) was only 1.37% below the AMO, the elementary was identified as a Needs Improvement School in this area. A main goal is to provide more rigorous and challenging instruction in math, while ensuring that differentiated teaching takes place to ensure that each student learns what is being taught. Although the expected achievement level was not met in Math in the elementary school for 2012, improvement across many grade levels and subject areas was evident when comparing the overall progress of our students. Last year Hermitage Elementary met standards for Literacy and didn’t meet standards in math, with the school’s status being Whole School Intensive Improvement Alert Year 5 (WSII-A-5).
According to the ESEA accountability status, the High School/Jr. High scores met the requirements for Achieving Schools in Literacy in all areas for 2012. In the area of Mathematics, only our African-American subpopulation did not meet the new ESEA standards. Under the previous NCLB Act, the African-American population was not considered large enough to represent an individual subpopulation. All other TAGG subgroups met the standards for the year. In 2011, Hermitage High School was listed as a School Improvement Year 2 (SI_2) school.
The ESEA calculates scores for the previous two years for a three-year average, along with our current test results. The high school did not meet the standards for this three year period in Literacy or Math. In literacy, neither our general population nor our TAGG (white) subgroup showed enough growth to be considered achieving at a satisfactory rate. In Math, the general population showed adequate growth; however, the African-American, Hispanic, Economically-disadvantaged, and English learners did not show adequate growth. Under the previous accountability system, only the Economically Disadvantaged group would have been large enough to be considered a subpopulation. If the elementary and high schools meet ESEA testing goals this year in both Math and Literacy, they will no longer be classified as “focus schools.”
To help meet ESEA goals for this year, Hermitage School District is continuing to utilize Educators’ Consulting Services and is more effectively using Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s), where grade-level teachers meet with the math and literacy facilitators and the principal to monitor student progress and discuss strategies to promote student learning. Additionally, the district has leadership teams in place to focus on learning initiatives and strategies for math and literacy.
In addition to these measures, the Hermitage High School Literacy Team has begun work with the Southern Regional Education Board to assist us in implementation of the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC) roll-out programs which engage students through module-based (project-based) learning. SREB representatives have observed participating teachers and provided positive feedback from these observations.
The elementary school began online target testing in 2012 and will continue to do so. Target testing is being administered to students through D2SC, a Web-based statistics site that shows immediate results from each test, as well as remediation suggestions for students not reaching mastery. Hermit Checkpoints (mid-term formal assessments) are given in math and literacy to track students’ skill mastery and weaknesses. The high school will also initiate online target testing this year in math and literacy to track student progress. Classroom teachers and instructional coaches can use information obtained from these tests to plan for future instruction. Data rooms are being utilized in both buildings so that student progress is visible from one assessment to the next.
The Pathwise Program continues to be implemented, as new teachers are paired with mentors for support and guidance in order to achieve higher learning goals and to reduce teacher turnover. Additional classroom modeling has been done by veteran teachers as needed to help novice teachers.
School Reach is used to inform parents by phone of upcoming events or special announcements.
The program has recently been updated with new student contact information and parents now have the option of receiving texts or messages in Spanish or English. Also, numerous parental surveys have been submitted, and they reflect favorably on the school.
Strategies are in place to correct any weaknesses and to maintain and strengthen any areas in which the students did well. The district’s new attendance policy, which limits absences to 6 per semester, should contribute to increased student overall performance, as well as pullout interventions in the elementary school to work with small groups of students. Grades and student progress are reported through Edline, which is accessible to all parents. A+ Software has been implemented to strengthen Math and Literacy skills. The Math and Literacy Facilitators at each school assist teachers in identifying the areas students need to work on and to provide methods to assess and target these students. The Hermitage School District was awarded a $90,000 grant to continue its 21st Century After-School Program, which provides help for students in both Math and Literacy, along with an Enrichment Block, where students are given the opportunity to participate in activities outside the regular school curriculum.
The Common Core standards are being implemented in grades K-8. All K-8 teachers have received extensive staff development on the Common Core standards. Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is being utilized in the K-2 classrooms.
The Capstone Library, a computer reading program used in the elementary school, is accessible for students and parents at home. The Lucy Calkins writing program is being utilized by K-6 teachers, along with the Six Traits of Writing. A specialist from the Southeast Educational Cooperative meets with the Literacy facilitator monthly to discuss topics that will help increase student achievement.
The Hermitage Elementary Library had a used book sale and raised $200.00 to purchase new books. The library will hold its annual book fair this month, and the profit will also be used to purchase more books and materials. The librarian has been conducting classes on website reliability, research skills, and has introduced students to the “The Arkansas State Library Traveler Resource” database.
The Parent Involvement Facilitator plans programs and activities that include the Grandparents’ Reception, Watch D.O.G.S program, M.O.M.S. Club, Breakfast for Dads, Muffins for Moms, and many other programs throughout the year. The H.E.L.P. (Hermitage Elementary League of Parents) group participates in fund raisers and various other events throughout the year to help our students. The parent involvement team has worked closely with the character education committee to sponsor a character education T-shirt contest and coordinates events with the school social worker during Red Ribbon Week for parent outreach. Parent packets and other informational articles continue to be distributed to parents as an ongoing parent communication tool.
The migrant program serviced 26 elementary students during 2012.Supplemental educational services are provided for these students and include daily 39-minute tutoring in sessions in math and language arts. Migrant students also receive other services such as free school supplies and lunches, summer school, and some free health services, including general health checking of teeth, ears, blood pressure, eyes, heart, and updated shot records. The migrant program purchases two pairs of eyeglasses for students annually. The migrant interventionist sent home monthly publications that provided tips to help these children and made home visits to encourage parents to send students to the 21st Century After-School Program. The interventionist also hosted two Parent Advisory Council meetings and two other meetings to give parents an opportunity to make suggestions for improvement and become more involved. Extensive records were maintained by the migrant interventionist that included hours of interventions, absentees, test scores, etc. Annual reviews are held with the Southeast Coop Director of Migrant Services and a representative from the State Department. Plans for the migrant program this year are to continue all services offered and help students and parents in any way possible.
Response to Intervention (RTI) training is being conducted and implemented to committees to identify at-risk children, intervene, correct academic deficiencies, and provide reliable information for proper placement.
In grades K-3, GT students are being serviced by the GT Teacher on a monthly basis. In the classroom, teachers are using Talents Unlimited, a program designed to teach higher order thinking skills to elementary students. Several teachers will attend training for this next summer. In grades 4-6, gifted students receive services for 150 minutes each week by the GT Teacher. The students are currently studying a unit on pioneers. Students will again participate in Quiz Bowl and National Geography Bee this year, as well as many in-class competitions. In grades 7-12, GT students have the opportunity to take part in Pre-AP/AP classes which are made available to them in content areas. The annual application for approval has already been submitted and approved by the state. Hermitage was the 2nd in the state of Arkansas to receive approval using the new online system. The Gifted Program is currently in compliance with all state mandates.
The elementary counselor has obtained some teachers’ manuals and reproducible materials for the Stop and Think Social Skills program for grades 2-5 from the Project Achieve Positive Behavior Support Services Facilitator training. This training is provided free over a 5-year period from the Arkansas State Personnel Development grant. Plans are currently underway to find other grants that may help purchase the full set of these manuals for all K-6 classrooms, which is essential to successful future implementation of PBSS. To keep parents and the community informed of upcoming events and news, the counselor created a new elementary counselor’s website and also a new elementary website for the school, both of which can be accessed through the district’s site and Edline. The counselor provided staff development on suicide prevention and awareness, bullying, and also provided information on child abuse to teachers at the beginning of school. Guest provided information on bullying, safety, and other issues throughout the year.
Hermitage School District will continue to monitor the progress of our students to help them meet proficiency in both Math and Literacy. Student achievement is top priority, and we strive to provide our students with the best education possible. With the support of parents and the community, we will continue to apply the best practices and resources available to ensure that every student learns. It is our goal that all students master new Common Core Standards. Together we believe, achieve, and succeed!
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