COMPETENCY 1: ACCOUNTABILITY (TEACHING AND LEARNING)
Related Task 1.1 - Ability to interpret meaning of various standardized tests to boards, teachers, and lay citizens.
Specific Task 1.1.3 - Ability to use assessment data to identify weakness and recommend strategies for improving student performance.
Narrative description of specific task: Review results from most recent state assessment for the building and the trend evident over the last three years. Select one grade level or one subject matter assessment (11th Grade Social Studies, MME) to analyze in depth, including a factor analysis that identifies areas in which students are particularly proficient and those areas where they are particularly deficient. Based on such analysis, recommend school improvement strategies tailored to strengthen student performance.
Related Task 1.1 - Ability to interpret meaning of various standardized tests to boards, teachers, and lay citizens.
Specific Task 1.1.3 - Ability to use assessment data to identify weakness and recommend strategies for improving student performance.
Narrative description of specific task: Review results from most recent state assessment for the building and the trend evident over the last three years. Select one grade level or one subject matter assessment (11th Grade Social Studies, MME) to analyze in depth, including a factor analysis that identifies areas in which students are particularly proficient and those areas where they are particularly deficient. Based on such analysis, recommend school improvement strategies tailored to strengthen student performance.
County Rankings - MME Social Studies Proficency Percentages for 2012-13 School Year
Grand Blanc High School had the highest MME Social Studies scores in the county with 59% of students proficient. While this is a point of pride for the district, this does not mean that the district staff should rest on their laurels. Because the standardized test data can become overwhelming, I have chosen to focus on one grade level content area test. The MME was chosen because it is the culmination of three years of high school. While the MEAP is given in high school (9th Grade), it really tests knowledge that the students learned in years prior, since the test is given in the fall. The MME is the best measure of the impact that high school teachers are making in their students academic careers.
The difficult part in using standardized test data is that you can not obtain specific item analysis in order to determine what standards you are proficient and deficient in. As you can see from the tables below, with regard to Social Studies, Grand Blanc students are up and down over the last five years. Proficiency among all students was at a high of 64.5% in 2010-11, but has now trended down to 59% in '12-'13. The same slightly downward trend is present among all subgroups as well. However, a substantial gap still exists for African-American students, economically-disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.
Data is useless unless you can use it to identify areas for improvement. Unfortunately, with the way standardized test items have remain guarded, departments are forced to rely on their own assessments to ensure that students are interacting with and grasping the content. The best way to ensure that students are interacting with content that is testable on the MME is to ensure that all courses are aligned to the Michigan High School Content Expectations. A thorough audit of every core class' curriculum is necessary to validate that staff are meeting these expectations. Common planning and assessments are key to to ensuring teachers are coordinated in their efforts.
One specific example that is very relevant is Grand Blanc's freshman World History course. It is currently not aligned to the standards. The curriculum map goes far too in depth into some standards, and glosses over, or does not address others. While this is the age old battle of breadth vs. depth, it is absolutely necessary to cover all content expectations so these students are not only ready for standardized exams, but for their future academic endeavors. The World History course is due for a new textbook next year and was in the middle of the curriculum pilot process, but a senior teacher had decided to go with an updated version of the old textbook. She has been teaching the course for 20 years, and was reluctant to change her course of instruction. The problem is, she had her pet projects and topics and avoided others that were clearly a big part of the curriculum. However, other teachers were frustrated that the curriculum was not aligned. Because of this, a number of teachers in the department pushed heavily to change textbook publishers as a backdoor way of changing the road map for the course. The tactic worked and the senior teacher is coming around to the change. This change will make quite an impact on the level of knowledge that students have in World History. Students who enter 9th grade next year with this new curriculum will be better prepared for MME World History questions.
Beyond just buying new textbooks, Grand Blanc Social Studies teachers need to develop and embrace common assessments (beyond semester and final exams) that are aligned to standards. Just this year our school district purchased licenses through the ISD in order for us to gain greater incite in to our students performance on certain standards. Surprisingly, teachers were using the original scantron machines to grade multiple choice tests. While there is a report page that you can pass through the machine after you've finished scanning all documents, it doesn't aggregate the data and let you examine items by standard. If the MME won't publish specific reports for how are students have done on specific items, then we need to create our own aligned assessments, upload the tests into the new Datawise program, and then use that data to drive our instruction and determine where our weaknesses exist.
As far as bridging the gap between White students and Black students, my mentor teacher and I have begun researching and implementing a program for Black males that has had success for over 20 years now in an Ohio school district. The Shaker Heights district's program is called the MAC (Minority Achievement Committee) scholar program. Learn more about it by clicking HERE. In essence, their program identifies successful Black male upperclassmen and has them serve as role models and mentors to underclassmen. My mentor and I ran a report of all Black, or multiracial men in the high school, and then analyzed their GPA's. Between students we were familiar with already, a core group of 10 Juniors were selected to be the inaugural class for Grand Blanc's version of the program. The group has only met once, but in that meeting the boys developed a pledge along the lines of Shaker Heights.
I worry about becoming an administrator that wants to try the next new razzle dazzle program that claims it will solve all of the world's problems, but at the same time you can't sit back and do nothing. Grand Blanc specifically has always been on top of the county due to the demographics of the district and the wealth that exists in the community, however over the last 10 years the district has evolved as students from other areas move to the district for the high quality education. The district must adapt as these students come to us. They need more support than the Grand Blanc student of the past. No, test scores aren't everything, but they are currently how we are judged in this business. We cannot be stagnant.
The difficult part in using standardized test data is that you can not obtain specific item analysis in order to determine what standards you are proficient and deficient in. As you can see from the tables below, with regard to Social Studies, Grand Blanc students are up and down over the last five years. Proficiency among all students was at a high of 64.5% in 2010-11, but has now trended down to 59% in '12-'13. The same slightly downward trend is present among all subgroups as well. However, a substantial gap still exists for African-American students, economically-disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.
Data is useless unless you can use it to identify areas for improvement. Unfortunately, with the way standardized test items have remain guarded, departments are forced to rely on their own assessments to ensure that students are interacting with and grasping the content. The best way to ensure that students are interacting with content that is testable on the MME is to ensure that all courses are aligned to the Michigan High School Content Expectations. A thorough audit of every core class' curriculum is necessary to validate that staff are meeting these expectations. Common planning and assessments are key to to ensuring teachers are coordinated in their efforts.
One specific example that is very relevant is Grand Blanc's freshman World History course. It is currently not aligned to the standards. The curriculum map goes far too in depth into some standards, and glosses over, or does not address others. While this is the age old battle of breadth vs. depth, it is absolutely necessary to cover all content expectations so these students are not only ready for standardized exams, but for their future academic endeavors. The World History course is due for a new textbook next year and was in the middle of the curriculum pilot process, but a senior teacher had decided to go with an updated version of the old textbook. She has been teaching the course for 20 years, and was reluctant to change her course of instruction. The problem is, she had her pet projects and topics and avoided others that were clearly a big part of the curriculum. However, other teachers were frustrated that the curriculum was not aligned. Because of this, a number of teachers in the department pushed heavily to change textbook publishers as a backdoor way of changing the road map for the course. The tactic worked and the senior teacher is coming around to the change. This change will make quite an impact on the level of knowledge that students have in World History. Students who enter 9th grade next year with this new curriculum will be better prepared for MME World History questions.
Beyond just buying new textbooks, Grand Blanc Social Studies teachers need to develop and embrace common assessments (beyond semester and final exams) that are aligned to standards. Just this year our school district purchased licenses through the ISD in order for us to gain greater incite in to our students performance on certain standards. Surprisingly, teachers were using the original scantron machines to grade multiple choice tests. While there is a report page that you can pass through the machine after you've finished scanning all documents, it doesn't aggregate the data and let you examine items by standard. If the MME won't publish specific reports for how are students have done on specific items, then we need to create our own aligned assessments, upload the tests into the new Datawise program, and then use that data to drive our instruction and determine where our weaknesses exist.
As far as bridging the gap between White students and Black students, my mentor teacher and I have begun researching and implementing a program for Black males that has had success for over 20 years now in an Ohio school district. The Shaker Heights district's program is called the MAC (Minority Achievement Committee) scholar program. Learn more about it by clicking HERE. In essence, their program identifies successful Black male upperclassmen and has them serve as role models and mentors to underclassmen. My mentor and I ran a report of all Black, or multiracial men in the high school, and then analyzed their GPA's. Between students we were familiar with already, a core group of 10 Juniors were selected to be the inaugural class for Grand Blanc's version of the program. The group has only met once, but in that meeting the boys developed a pledge along the lines of Shaker Heights.
I worry about becoming an administrator that wants to try the next new razzle dazzle program that claims it will solve all of the world's problems, but at the same time you can't sit back and do nothing. Grand Blanc specifically has always been on top of the county due to the demographics of the district and the wealth that exists in the community, however over the last 10 years the district has evolved as students from other areas move to the district for the high quality education. The district must adapt as these students come to us. They need more support than the Grand Blanc student of the past. No, test scores aren't everything, but they are currently how we are judged in this business. We cannot be stagnant.
genesee_county_mme_social_studies_enitity_breakdown_12-13.pdf | |
File Size: | 12 kb |
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Grand Blanc High MME Social Studies Proficiency from 2008-2013
mmetrend_-_gb_-_08-13.pdf | |
File Size: | 48 kb |
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Grand Blanc High - MME Social Studies Proficiency by Race/Ethnicity from 2008-2013
mmetrend_-_gb_-_08-13_race.pdf | |
File Size: | 96 kb |
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Grand Blanc High - MME Social Studies Proficiency for Economically Disadvantaged from 2008-2013
mmetrend_gb_08-13_economic_disadvantaged.pdf | |
File Size: | 48 kb |
File Type: |
Grand Blanc High - MME Social Studies Proficiency for Economically Disadvantaged from 2008-2013
mmetrend_gb_08-13_economic_disadvantaged.pdf | |
File Size: | 48 kb |
File Type: |
World History - Michigan High School Content Expectations (Standards)
mi_hsces_world_history.pdf | |
File Size: | 302 kb |
File Type: |