http://www.wsesu.net/news/2015/8/19/ayp-letter-fy-16?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Weathersfield School
JeanMarie K. Oakman, Principal
AYP Announcement for WS for August 2015
Weathersfield School did not take NECAP tests last year or the year before. Instead, we participated in the pilot for the new Smarter Balance Assessment, known as SBAC in FY 14, and we gave the SBAC to all students in grades 3-8 this past spring. The SBAC results for FY 15 will be announced soon. The VT Agency of Education has announced that the SBAC scores will NOT be used to determine AYP. However, by federal law, we must announce our AYP status each and every year. Thus, we are using FY 13 data to announce our AYP status, now 3 years old. Because we were in Year 2 School Improvement two years ago and remained in that holding pattern, we are obligated to once again share the results from previous years, see below. A full analysis of NECAP test scores over the last three years the tests were given can be obtained by calling the school at 674-5400.
AYP Announcement for Weathersfield School - August 2015
Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is an accountability report given to each school by Vermont’s Agency of Education based on the Fall 2012 NECAP test scores in reading and math. The fall 2012 tests measured the progress of students from the FY 13 school year. This report tells whether or not a school has made adequate progress for various sub groups of students including the school’s free and reduced student population, students with disabilities, English Language Learners, all students, and various ethnic origins of the student population. 100% of our students in grades 3-8 participated. If a subgroup has a student number of less than 40, AYP is not determined. We do have some subgroups here at WS with a student population of less than 40.
Here are the Weathersfield School results:
• Weathersfield School did not make AYP in reading for free and reduced lunch students – 2011 and 2013 are the only two years that WS students in grades three through eight did NOT make AYP in Reading for free and reduced lunch students.
• Weathersfield School did not make AYP in math for all students, white students and free and reduced students – this is the third year in ten years that WS students in grades three through eight did not make AYP in Math for all students, free and reduced lunch students and white students. However, last year we made AYP in all those categories!
Just because we did not make AYP does not mean we are not an excellent school and improving daily. True, the target was raised and like most schools in Vermont, we did not make AYP. We did show growth and improvement, but we did not meet the target set by the federal and state government. We are NOT discouraged. We ARE determined to continue in our quest to help each and every child to meet high, challenging standards. Thank you to parents, teachers and students for your hard work this past year. I am so proud of how we tackled this as partners….we have made a difference!
Because we did not make AYP in 2013, we were a school in Year 2 of an Improvement Plan.
However, since SBAC tests will not be determining AYP in FY 15, all Vermont schools are writing a CIP, Continuous Improvement Plan. WS has completed their plan and it was sent to the AOE in July for approval. Once approved, the CIP will be posted on our school website. We will continue on with the excellent professional development work we started three year ago to improve teaching and learning and to ensure that our student scores show steady progress over time, as they have to date. This data has been tracked over time and is available to anyone, just ask! The WSESU has invested a great deal of time, money, and energy in establishing two new curricula: Eureka Math and Wheatley ELA for K-12 students in all four schools.
Here is a list of other professional development opportunities which will be the focus of our work in FY 16:
Professional Development Goals for the FY 16 School Year – Building Based and WSESU Supported
1. Improving Instruction and Assessment
2. Wheatley ELA – unpacking standards and materials for the first year in WS
3. Technology – Grade K-4 Standards Based Report Cards; PowerGrading Parent Portal Open to all in K-8
4. Eureka Math K- 12 – implementing this new curriculum with fidelity
5. WS Schoolwide Action and Continuous Improvement Plan FY 16, (CIP)
6. Building Developmental Assets for ALL Students
7. Act One- Protecting Children From Sexual Abuse
8. Professional Learning Communities – data collection, analysis and tiered instruction for remediation
9. Restraint and Support Training
10. Using the Inform Data Collection System
11. Mentoring
12. Multi-Tiered Support Systems – We have an MTSS Coach and a Leadership Team facilitating this work
13. Streamlining the transition into public school from EEE, Pre-Schools, Home Care Providers and others and from Grade 8 to Grade 9
14. Next Generation Science Standards
15. Supplemental Services for at risk students – SES and TIPS, Tier 2 and 3 Support
16. Track My Progress – assessing students in K-8, three times a year, to track progress and to tier instruction
17. Collaborative Problem Solving – Leadership team to bring new student-centered ways to address problems in school
18. School Safety – The Emergency Preparedness Team meets monthly to assess school safety and to conduct drills
19. WS to pilot a new social studies curriculum in FY 16 for the WSESU
Our PLCs, (Professional Learning Communities), are ready and poised to do the following this year:
1. Look at student work and data on every child/grade, and school data, too; refine units of instruction as necessary
2. Providing tiered and supplemental intervention with clearly defined entrance and exit criteria
3. Support teachers through collaboration coaching, resources and problem solving
4. Review school climate surveys
5. Training in teaching and learning, skill development, and strategies to maximize effectiveness
Required Action for Year 2 School Improvement Schools:
- Must have SU and School Based Improvement Teams.
- Must provide written notice to parents about not making AYP.
- Must offer school choice.
- Superintendent must sign off on assurances.
- WS must offer supplemental educational services.
- Review, revise and implement NEW school improvement plan, CIP.
The law requires schools to notify parents whose children are in a school on an improvement plan that they have the option to transfer to another school in the district if they are unhappy with the school, and that transportation will be provided. In telling you this, I have met the letter of the law, however, the only elementary school in the district is the Weathersfield School, and so there is not another choice for K-8 students. In the Bennington School District, there are several schools in the same district which makes this law more plausible for them, but not for us.
To give this some perspective, 2011 marked the final target AYP increase (before the 100 percent proficiency goal set for 2015) in Vermont. As a consequence, the department had seen a significant increase in the number of schools that did not make AYP. Two years ago, 214 schools were identified for school improvement in one or more areas. 17 of those were new schools entering their first year of school improvement. Additionally, 21 schools did not make AYP for the first time. Last year, the numbers were even higher.
Weathersfield School is a Title 1 Schoolwide School. If you would like a copy of our Schoolwide Action and Continuous Improvement Plan, please call the school at 674-5400, and we will make a copy available to you as soon as the state approves our plan. The plan was written by a number of local people, in and outside of the school community. Eventually, the plan will be on our school website. The plan speaks to a comprehensive way to address student achievement and to get parents, community and local businesses involved in the process.
We had 100+ volunteers work in our school of 220, K-8 students, last year. Some read to children, some worked in the library, some went on field trips, some coached sports, while others tutored children or helped in the classroom. There is an endless list of ways volunteers can help make a school better and we are thankful to have such a loving and involved community! We encourage volunteerism and welcome anyone and everyone who cares to join us in making Weathersfield School the very best school in the state of Vermont! I think we are half way there!
Sincerely,
JeanMarie
JeanMarie K. Oakman, WS Principal
August 19, 2015
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