As with many school districts, the ACSD has collected and continues to collect an overwhelming amount of data. Using this data to guide District decision-making is definitely a shift in paradigms. To make this shift, the District has recognized the necessity for a data management system. Over the past several years, the District has been assembling the hardware and software to create a data warehouse. Access to data in an understandable form will make the analysis and decision-making easier for all District employees.
Many new programs have been instituted in the District as a result of long-range data collection. The Black survey was administered to parents, students, and staff at Ankeny High School. One of the top concerns of parents and students was the preparation of students for their careers. At the same time, a group of business leaders and community members were working with school personnel to help develop the Student Learning Goals for the District. The number one goal for that committee was to choose broad areas of learning that would assist students in the careers of their choice. In addition, the High School Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) had also asked questions about the consistency of career planning within the High School. With career planning surfacing as a need from all of these surveys and committees over a three year period, Ankeny High School, Northview Middle School, and Parkview Middle School began studies to meet this need. Parkview instituted a six-week service learning exploratory for every seventh grade student. The students work in the community and complete projects that acquaint them with businesses and the world of work. Northview Middle School changed its homebase program so that every ninth grade student studied every career pathway. Speakers are brought into the school once a month to share the type of skills and experiences that a worker might encounter in a specific pathway. At Ankeny High School, every sophomore student participates in a School-Without-Walls experience. After studying the career pathways in ninth grade, each student chooses a pathway that interests him/her.
The High School created a School-Without Walls experience for every sophomore student. The students visit three businesses from the career pathway that they have chosen to explore. During these visits, the students get a first-hand look at the knowledge and skills necessary to enter such a profession. Many times, the most important thing that students learn is that this specific pathway is not suitable for them. In the junior year, students may opt to participate in a job shadowing course and actual shadowing experience. As seniors, the students may choose to be involved in one of the many internships offered by Ankeny and Des Moines area businesses. Students participate in a class that prepares them to enter the job force. They, then, complete an application for the internship posted. The businesses posting internships interview those students interested in the position, and provide feedback to those students who are not selected. The interns are paid for the work they do for the business, and they receive graduation credit for the course that they take.
Career and life skills are not just concerns of the secondary schools. The long-term data collected from elementary PAC’s and the parent report cards for each elementary building showed that parents were concerned about life skills for their elementary students also. To address this need, all K-12 teachers have integrated the following life (school-to-work) skills and activities into their curriculum maps.
Teachers use these curriculum maps to record what is taught in the classroom month by month. The maps include essential questions, content, skills, and assessments.
Data collected from research into educational environments, the Black survey, PAC committee feedback, and parent report cards also indicated that many parents and students felt disconnected from their school environment, especially in High School. For this reason, Ankeny High School started an advisement program for all tenth through twelfth graders. Every certified teacher and administrator in the building meets with an advisement group of 18-20 sophomores, juniors, and seniors for 30 minutes each week. These groups address student concerns, topics that will improve the school environment such as gender bias, sexual harassment, bullying, and racial and cultural bias, registration for the following school year, and graduation requirements. The advisement groups hold parent, student, advisor conferences in January where the students’ courses for the following year or college plans are discussed. All of the colleges in the area are invited to send representatives on the evening of these conferences, and the students in grades six through nine and their parents are also invited to discuss plans with the college representatives.
The District also uses the standardized test data that it collects from ITBS/ITED’s to make instructional and curricular decisions. For example, for the past three years, the percentage of sophomore students scoring at the Less Than Proficient performance level in reading has hovered around the 20% level. For this reason, Ankeny High School is piloting a new program for the 2001-2002 school year. This program is called the Immediate Student Action program. All of the 2001-2002 sophomores who scored at the Less Than Proficient performance level on their 8th grade ITBS and 9th grade ITED tests are administered the Stanford 9 Diagnostic Test. Those students who score at the Less Than Proficient performance level on this exam will be provided with one-on-one assistance in reading skills and strategies throughout the year before the Stanford 9 is administered again at the end of the school year. If, as expected, student achievement in reading improves, this program would be started in the 6th and 7th grade building and the 8th and 9th grade building for the 2002-2003 school year. The High School will then implement a similar program for those students who score at the Less Than Proficient performance level in math during the 2003-2004 school year.
The Immediate Student Action program is making use of another product that was designed as a result of feedback from parents, students, and staff. The reading strategy bank was created at the request of teachers who have not been extensively trained in reading. They felt that this strategy bank would help them while integrating reading strategies into their curriculum. Students have also found this bank a useful tool when confronted with a difficult passage to read, they can consult the strategy bank for assistance. These strategies are also being shared with K-5 parents so that they can assist their children with reading at home. A math problem-solving strategy bank will be developed during the 2001-2003 school years.
In order to help staff and building administrators use the data from curriculum maps to improve instruction and to provide appropriate complexity of instruction, the district will implement the Curriculum Compass software starting with the 2001-2002 school year. Training on this software and implementing its use will take from 2001-2003. With the reports generated by this software, the District can track alignment of instruction with standards and benchmarks and integration of cross-curricular skills. Each teacher can print reports to check that they have covered and assessed all standards and benchmarks throughout the year. In addition, the software will allow the District to analyze the complexity of material taught at every grade level and whether or not the complexity increases as the students progress through the K-12 system. The software data system will also house performance assessments designed by the teachers to assess specific benchmarks.
Another important use of data is the setting of goals. The K-5 diagnostic reading and Title I data is analyzed each year in order to set the Early Intervention Goals for the following year. This data is disaggregated by gender, race, socio-economic status, IEP, and English Language Learners. When setting performance standards for the district-designed performance tasks and analyzing the performance standards for the district-designed performance tasks and analyzing the performance data from ITBS/ITED, these disaggregated groups could be performing as a level that is very different from the average score in the District. This information can assist the District in focusing goals for the future. One result from analyzing disaggregated data was the expansion of Special Education programs at Northview Middle School. Student achievement for IEP students and BEDS information showing an increase in the total of Special Education students in the building made the decision to expand the programs an easy decision to make.
As all public school districts, the ACSD analyzes all available data to determine student entry into special programs. The entry criteria for special programs in the ACSD are listed below.
Title I/Supplemental Reading Entry/Exit Criteria
|
|
|
|
|
|
K |
Must be below criteria in 4/5 |
||
|
|
Must be below criteria in 4/5 |
Must be below criteria in 3/4 |
Must be below criteria in 3/4 |
|
|
Must be below criteria in 3/4 |
Must be below criteria in 3/4 |
Must be below criteria in 3/4 |
|
|
Must be below criteria in 2/3 |
Must be below criteria in 2/3 |
Must be below criteria in 2/3 (Consider-below 40% on Rdg. ITBS) |
|
|
Must be below criteria in 2/3 (Consider-below 40% on Rdg. ITBS) |
Must be below criteria in 3/3 (Consider-below 40% on Rdg. ITBS) |
*Sight words will change to the Level 1-6 words (150 total) All of the levels listed in the criteria for Title I Entry/Exit have been determined by establishing performance levels using the data from the 2000-2001 assessments as base-line data. The reliability of scoring was established and statistically verified during the reading trainings of all K-5 teachers.
Elementary At-Risk Student Identification Procedures
K-3 At-Risk and potential dropouts may be referred by a teacher, parent, administrator, counselor, or any other person having concerns about the child. Initial referral will be made to the building assistance team. A wide variety of factors are considered, including the following"
Referrals are screened by the counselor and presented to the building assistance team. An action plan is developed which details all services and staff responsibilities. Parents are notified for participation and follow-up. Plans are monitored by the counselor and follow-up meetings are held to check progress.
Information for younger children (pre-kindergarten) is gathered at Kindergarten Roundup. Potential at-risk students will be referred to the nurse or Outreach Coordinator for follow-up. Potential at-risk students will be referred to the nurse or Outreach Coordinator for follow-up.
Secondary At-Risk Student Identification Procedures
At Parkview Middle School, Northview Middle School, and Ankeny High School, all staff may refer students to the Learning Center using team generated criteria and a specifically developed referral form.
Learning Center staff and Building Assistance Teams determine which students are admitted to the program based on several of the following criteria:
Ankeny Extended Learning Program (AELP, Gifted and Talented Education)
In accordance with Iowa department of Education standards for "gifted education programs" and consistent with gifted education "best practices" literature, Ankeny Extended Learning Program (AELP) identification is based on multiple criteria. This information is evaluated by the Ankeny Extended Learning Program team.
The cognitive and affective needs of gifted and talented students are met with an individualized plan for each student admitted to the program and a summer and Saturday program that are based on students individualized plans and areas of interest. Any carry-over in the budget from the academic year is used to fund the summer program that is extremely popular with students and parents.
These individual plans are directly tied to the Student Learning Goals that are called District Essential Learnings in the ACSD. The form for the individualized plan is listed below.
Ankeny Education Learning Program Personalized Education Plan
District Goals
Communication
Problem Solving
Citizenship
Thinking and Processing Skills
Personal Growth
Basic Core of Knowledge
Goal: To investigate an area of personal interest
Topic: ____________________________________________________________
Associated problems: ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Resources needed: __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Time line for production: _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Time line/action plan for meeting with facilitator: _________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Final product: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Application to the work world: ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Goal: To prepare for appropriate post secondary testing
Goal: To take appropriate post-secondary tests
Target tests: _______________________________________________________
Target preparation techniques: _________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Goal: To read a variety of materials
Goal: To evaluate materials read
Target list (include fiction, non-fiction, media, text material):_________________
__________________________________________________________________
Target techniques for evaluation product: ________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Signatures
Date: ___________________
Student: __________________________________________________________
Parent: ___________________________________________________________
AELP Teacher: _____________________________________________________
Other Teacher, as appropriate: _________________________________________
In order to participate in the AELP, the following referral form must be submitted and evaluated as to whether the student meets the criteria listed on the form.
Date: _____________Name: _________________________ Grade: _______________
Referred by: ________________ Building: __________ Case Manager: ___________
A minimum of four need to be checked for referral
Academic Attendance
_____ poor/failing grades
_____ frequent tardies
_____ incomplete assignments
_____ absences (excused)
_____ lack of motivation
_____ frequent visits to nurse
_____ lack of organization
_____ suspensions
_____ truancies (unexcused absences
_____ Other
Social/Behavior Concerns Family Issues
_____ aggression toward self/others
_____ low parent involvement
_____ lack of respect for authority
_____ victim of abuse (sexual,
_____ lack of self-esteem physical, psychological)
_____ withdrawn
_____ personal/family abuse of
_____ disruptive drugs/alcohol
_____ lack of coping skills
_____ member of single parent
_____ health related issues family
_____ poor attitude
_____ low parental value of
_____ lack of school identity education
_____ mood swings
_____ defiance of rules
_____ irresponsibility
_____ fighting
_____ dramatic attention seeking
_____ personal hygiene issues
_____ other _____________
Parent contacts and results of intervention in the classroom: ______________ ________________________________________________________________________
Recommended Action: ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Please attach the following: attendance transcript/grades, schedule, other items as applicable.
Referral Completed: Date:______________
Accepted _________ Denied _____________