11 of 13 Schools Fail AYP

From the August 19 edition of the Sun Post…

For the second consecutive year, two of the 13 schools in Robbinsdale District 281 met Adequate Yearly Progress standards in 2010 under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

As in 2009, they are Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School in New Hope and Zachary Lane Elementary in Plymouth.  The Minnesota Department of Education released its Adequate Yearly Progress report of statewide schools’ test results on Tuesday, Aug. 10.  The AYP data is based on students’ performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments-II tests administered last spring. Students in grades 3-8 took both reading and math tests. Tenth-graders took a reading test, and 11th-grade students took a math test.

According to the MDE, 1,048 of 2,291 state schools did not make adequate yearly progress in 2010, the same number as last year.  The percentage of District 281 students that reached proficiency on math and reading in 2010 was slightly lower in comparison to 2009 results.

Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School and Zachary Lane Elementary reached annual target scores for each demographic group of tested students in reading and math.  District 281 secondary schools reached some of the targets set by the state for demographic groups.  The district also made some targets for individual demographic groups, but did not make AYP overall in reading or math.

Robbinsdale Area Schools students in grades 3-5 are learning at a greater rate than the average student nationally, according to 2010 Measures of Academic Progress test results, a widely used standardized test. The MAP test measures student growth over the course of the school year and is used by teachers to adjust teaching practices during the year at the grade, classroom and individual student levels.

In 2008 only three schools passed.  In 2009 only two schools passed.  Now in 2010 only two schools passed.  Anyone see a pattern?  How many employees are being held accountable for the lack of adequate yearly progress?  Ah…give me a minute I’m thinking…..Perhaps it is time to test the teachers!  Here are some of Superintendent Sicoli’s comments….

“Minnesota’s standards are very high,” Sicoli said. “And those high standards, which are challenging to meet, give us a confusing picture of student achievement when compared to other states or when other assessments are considered.”

Now we like Dr. Sicoli and think he has been a good addition to RAS but what is wrong with Minnesota having high standards?  So should they be lowered?  Is that a better solution?  Also, I’m also not sure what’s so confusing about passing tests.  Someone help me out!  And of course we can’t ever address anything in education without the liberal obsessed race, so-called poverty, free and reduced lunch, achievement gap.  Here are Sicoli’s comments on that matter….

“This is a serious issue, not just for schools, but for our society as a whole,” Sicoli said. “Addressing the achievement gap in reading and math will be a major focus for Robbinsdale Area Schools this year. Raising the scores of our students of color while maintaining high standards for all students will be beneficial for all students and our community.”

So what are the District’s plans to turn around these schools….

District 281 plans a number of interventions to improve student achievement during the 2010-11 school year, including a new elementary school reading curriculum; use of federal stimulus funds for instructional coaches who support elementary teachers to improve whole-school reading and mathematics instruction; and a full-scale evaluation of all curricular programs to ensure that resources are allocated appropriately to district priorities.

I’m glad we are using a new reading program but the other stuff looks like nothing new.

Once again, as always, test scores are not the be all/end all but they are important and we believe in them.  You have measure what kids are LEARNING.  That high school diploma has to mean something!   These test results, fairly or unfairly, give the district a bad name!  And what about those lower class sizes and restored programs that were obsessed about during the referendum?  We were told by the district and their apologists that coughing up yet more money was going to bring us great results!  So much for that!

13 out of 16 Robbinsdale Schools Fail AYP

The Sun Post reports three more (up from 2007) Robbinsdale schools failed AYP:

Just three of the 16 schools in Robbinsdale District 281 met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards in 2008 under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

They are Forest Elementary School in Crystal, Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School (RSIS) in Robbinsdale and Zachary Lane Elementary in Plymouth.

“We are really proud of our staff and our students,” Forest Principal Connie Grumdahl said of the results released last week by the Minnesota Department of Education.

The AYP data is based on students’ performance on the MCA-II tests administered last spring. Students in grades two to eight and the 10th grade took the reading test, while students in grades three to eight and the 11th grade were tested in math.

Statewide, 983 schools (including charter school and alternative learning programs) made AYP in 2008, while 937 did not. The number of schools failing to make AYP in 2008 is an increase of 210 schools over 2007.

Last year, 10 of the district’s 16 schools failed to make AYP. Three of the schools that were successful last year – Neill Elementary in Crystal and Sonnesyn and Sunny Hollow elementary schools in New Hope – did not make AYP this year.

As in 2007, none of the district’s three middle schools or two high schools made AYP this year.

This is the fifth consecutive year Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Cooper High School in New Hope and Plymouth Middle School have been cited.

Sandburg Middle School in Golden Valley was off the list in 2005, but has been cited each year since then.

Here is Superintendent Mack’s response:

“Student achievement has always been the highest priority of our district and our community, and it continues to be in our new strategic plan,” Superintendent Stan Mack said in a news release from the district. “We are working on a number of initiatives to help all students meet expectations.”

Do his initiatives include dipping into the budget by hiring a PR firm, offering skewed surveys and asking for more of our taxes in another referendum this November? Maybe we’ll make a 16/16 AYP failure score next year.

10 Robbinsdale Schools Fail AYP

From the MN Sun-Post:

Ten Robbinsdale Area Schools failed to make “adequate yearly progress,” according to information released Aug. 29 by the Minnesota Department of Education.

The data is based on students’ performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments taken last spring.

AYP is a measurement of each school’s progress in meeting requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Schools make AYP by meeting benchmarks for the number of their students meeting or exceeding standards on state-developed assessment, or by decreasing the percentage of students not meeting or exceeding the standards.

AYP is calculated separately by subgroups, which include English language learners, students in special education, ethnic groups and students receiving free and reduced-price meals. Results for all students and each subgroup must meet AYP benchmarks in order for a school or district to make AYP.

Statewide, 1,189 schools – including charter school and alternative-learning programs – made AYP in 2007, while 729 did not. The number of schools failing to make AYP in 2007 is an increase of 246 schools over 2006.

In Robbinsdale District 281, none of the three middle schools or two high schools made AYP, though they did reach targets set by the state for most demographic groups, according to district officials.

This is the fourth consecutive year Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Cooper High School in New Hope and Plymouth

Middle School have failed to meet the benchmarks.

Sandburg Middle School in Golden Valley made AYP in 2005, but did not this year or last.

Five District 281 elementary schools did not make AYP: Lakeview Elementary in Robbinsdale; Meadow Lake in New Hope; Noble in Golden Valley; Northport in Brooklyn Center; and Pilgrim Lane in Plymouth.

Plymouth Middle School and Meadow Lake, Noble, Northport and Pilgrim Lane elementary schools missed AYP in just one category, according to a news release from District 281 officials.