What Does A Local Report Card Analysis Look Like?

I thought you might be interested in viewing a sample local report card analysis completed by Success Coach.  It forms the basis for offering school remediation plans to shore up areas of weakness in academic achievement scores, adequate yearly progress, and performance index.  Enjoy!  Let us know if you have comments!

Analysis of 2011 Local Report Card

and

Proposal for Remediation

(Name of School Withheld for Privacy/Security)

Success Coach: We Fix Urban Schools.  No Excuses; Just Results

by Kit Kotler (419) 660-8888

September 21, 2011

General Information

School Address:                                 Principal:

PK-8, 431 students: 96% black, 3% white, 100% econ. disadv., 18% sped

Academic Emergency, 0/15 indicators met, PI=58.1/120 points, AYP=Not Met, School Improvement Year 8, Value Added=Met

Observations

-Scores are considerably lower than the rest of the district, as well as the state;

-Test scores are mixed over time, however 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th grades look particularly dismal;

-The greatest percentage of students score in the “limited” range which is atypical.  Usually most students in a school score in the “proficient” range.  The fact that your students score in the lower range is cause for concern;

-Your performance index is increasing over time, which is good, however it is only increasing in small increments and in 2009-2010 actually decreased.

How to Attain “Academic Watch”

-In order to move out of Academic Emergency and attain Academic Watch, the school must attain 31% of 15 indicators, which would mean meeting a total of 6 indicators (currently you have attained 0 indicators).  In essence, you would have to reach 75% proficient in six state indicators (subjects at various grade levels, plus attendance).

-Your other option is to achieve a performance index of 70.0…right now your performance index is 58.1 (a difference of 11.9 points).  Is that possible to attain?  We’ve done it before.  In a pilot study of Success Coach the Performance Index rose 11.9 points in its first year of use!  I believe this is your best option for attaining Academic Watch, at this time.

Proposal for Remediation

Comprehensive reform is necessary and must be immediate:

-Program evaluations must be conducted in reading, math, and science (at all grade levels) to determine specifically why students are not making the expected achievement.  Each program evaluation will identify weaknesses and make recommendations for corrective action.

-Instruction is not currently aligned to state standards, benchmarks and indicators.  If it was, you would be attaining higher scores.  Teachers must be instructed on the curriculum mapping process.  Monthly curriculum maps and weekly lesson plans must be submitted and approved.

-Teachers must have weekly instructional coaching in their classrooms (onsite, job-embedded) with written feedback and support.  If the school already has instructional coaches, they need to be properly trained.  Just having coaches is not enough to obtain the increases necessary for rapid improvement.

-Teachers should be taught to use Inquiry Based Learning---students will be engaged in the learning, the teacher’s job is easier, it embeds differentiated instruction and Bloom’s taxonomy in every lesson, classroom management issues decline because students are engaged in learning.

-Gather data from reading assessments (dibels?) and use it to formulate reading instruction at all grade levels.  If students can’t read, they can’t learn any subject.  Aim for 100% proficient at 3^rd grade.

-Create a display (in the office) of student proficiency levels by subject and grade level.  Use index cards to indicate where each student currently performs.  This “visual” will help teachers easily assess which students they need to give additional time to.

Implementation    

Implementation of this plan needs to take place immediately in order to see concrete results in next year’s testing.  We can provide all services necessary to transform school results.

Costs

Costs are dependent on the plan selected.  A formal proposal can and should be negotiated with you immediately in order to have a chance of making Academic Watch for next year.  Time is of the essence.