News

SCOTTSBLUFF SEES IMPROVEMENT IN ASSESSMENT SCORES

June 15, 2007

     Monday night, the Scottsbluff Public Schools Board of Education listened to Curriculum Director Sandy Porter and the building principals report preliminary assessment results from the last school year. The early results show great improvement in all buildings, in some areas, as much as 30 percent or more.
    “You have to understand that this information is purely preliminary. We just haven’t had a chance to get the spreadsheet tied together, and analyze the results,” commented Porter.
    Porter went on to say the changes in the way the district assesses students has helped improve the percentage of students that are proficient.
    “The improvements are a result of embedding our assessments in our curriculum and assessing at the point of instruction, and that is not unique to Scottsbluff. Other districts have done this for several years. Very few districts assess once at the end of the year; so now we are doing what other districts have done for years.”
    Westmoor Principal Charlotte Browning reported last year 74% of 4th graders were proficient in reading, this year 93% of the students were proficient. In math this year, 100% of Westmoor 4th graders were proficient compared to 70% last year.
    “The student realizes this [testing] is important the first time, and it’s not going away, so I’d better do my best because somebody is going to grab me and teach me again. So maybe the student realizes that the STARS test is just as important as some of our NRT’s that we’ve been taking,” reported Browning.
    Roosevelt also saw great improvement. Last year, 74% of Roosevelt 4th graders were proficient in reading, this year 93% were proficient. In math, 92% were proficient compared to 70% last year.
    “We had the opportunity for children who are not proficient to have another assessment where the teacher can work with them in a small group or one to one, re-teach that specific skill, and re-assess. You can see the benefit of it in just those scores,” Roosevelt Principal Nora Porupsky said.
    When students are re-assessed, they are not given the same test. There are at least two or three different assessments per standard.
    Longfellow Principal Barb Edwards commented, “I think that we are quite fortunate to have Mrs. Porter’s experience that she brought to this district, and how she has worked with staff to develop these assessments. It’s very difficult to understand what it takes to make and to create assessments. Not just one assessment, but several assessments for the same area. For instance, in math, I believe there are 3 forms, and those are not the same tests, and there are different kinds of tests.”
    Last year, 59% of Longfellow 4th graders were proficient in reading compared to the 100% that were proficient last year. In math, 63% of 4th graders were proficient last year, and 100% were proficient this year.
    “The mentality at Longfellow, we were under the gun, and we felt under the gun, because we hadn’t met AYP and we needed to step up, and the teachers stepped up, and I’m extremely proud of the efforts and the work that they did."
    Last year, Lincoln Heights had the highest scores in the district with 92% of 4th graders proficient in reading and 88% proficient in math. This year, 91% were proficient in reading and 91% were proficient in math.
    “I just want to say how pleased and proud I am of Lincoln Height’s students and staff. Besides new leadership this year, all but three teachers were teaching a new grade level. A lot of curriculum to learn and I thought they all did an outstanding job,” commented Lincoln Heights Principal Jodi Benson.
    At the middle school, 8th grade students also improved. Last year, 69% of 8th graders were proficient in reading, this year 79%. In math, last year 67% were proficient and this year over 90% were proficient.
    “Our teachers worked very hard. They worked with the students before and after school, during the bluff period, they put in a lot of time working with those students that needed extra help. I’m very pleased, they’re very pleased,” said Principal Mike Mason.
    At the high school, 67% of juniors were proficient in reading last year and 67% were proficient in math. This year, 80% were proficient in reading and 71% were proficient in math
    “High school is a little different when reporting scores because of the nature of the classes. They can bank the scores from year to year when they cover those standards, but are reported as juniors,” commented High School Assistant Principal Jim Schmucker.
    After the report from the principals, Board President Tim Lordino congratulated the staff on their hard work.
    “We’ve known that there’s been a lot of hard work going on in the district to achieve what you’ve achieved this year in regards to test scores. You’ve done a lot of changing and it’s taken a little bit of time to get where we are at today. The staff in this district should be congratulated for all the hard work they’ve done to get where we are at today.”
    “I’m saddened that people don’t take the time to see what’s going on in our classrooms, because we have a lot of good teachers in our classrooms doing a lot of good things, and your work shows by the test scores we’ve been presented tonight. I just want to say congratulations to our staff across the district for all the hard work that they’ve done.”
    More results for the district’s 3rd through 8th grade students and high school juniors can be found by clicking here.