Monday, October 21, 2019

AV #200 - FACTS FOR THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION - on six urban high schools, all on the clock for (too many) years


I sometimes wonder why school boards do not ask their superintendent and district staff to focus on three central questions about their low-performing high schools. Such as: (1) Based on how our students performed on the state assessments, how many meet the Colorado Academic Standards? (2) How many students are in class each day? (3) And—among those who do graduate—how many are college-ready?

Before four districts and their six low-performing high schools meet with the state board this fall to make the case that they need more time “to stay the course and continue to make good progress,” as some will claim, I pose these questions. In so doing, I highlight a few uncomfortable facts. I know full well these do not represent the whole truth. And I am certain the districts can and will report to the state board other facts, more favorable ones. (Higher graduation rates, for example, might be featured as a promising sign, even though–what is so telling–we see no correlation with higher achievement.[i])

A school board—swamped with data–can almost be forgiven for missing the key facts about these low-performing schools. We have seen a district office present its board with 100 pages of bullet points, graphs, and survey results. The Aurora School Board of Education reviewed a 33-page power point on Sept. 3 (“Central High School Innovation Plan Update”) and a 64-pager on Oct. 1 (“Aurora Central Pathways Recommendation,”[ii] presented by Superintendent Rico Munn)—among other documents.

Instead, I offer a two-pager—addressing the three questions--on the 6 high schools. (Addendum A adds a look at a decade of School Performance Framework results for these schools. Nothing new there.)

(1)    SAT and PSAT – 2017-18 and 2018-19[iii]
All well below “minimum scores accepted” in Colorado’s Graduation Guidelines for 2020-21[iv]

FROM GRADUATION GUIDELINES / FACT SHEET (CDE) -
“MENU OF OPTIONS [listing] the minimum score required.”  “SAT scores: English 470 / Math 500.”


SAT - Math
Grade 11
Change from 2018 to 2019
SAT– Reading/Writing
Grade 11
Change from
2018 to 2019
MINIMUM SCORE from NEW GRADUATION GUIDELINES

MATH - 500
READING/WRITING - 470


2017-18
2018-19

2017-18
2018-19

STATE
501
496
-5
513
505
-8
District
School






Adams 14
Adams City
430
412
-18
441
432
-9
Aurora Public Schools
Aurora Central
409
398*
-11
421
405*
-16
Gateway
417
406
-11
438
415
-23
Denver Public Schools
Abraham Lincoln
433
424
-9
427
415
-12
Manual
433
429
-4
438
434
-4
Pueblo 60
Central
441
452
+11
423
427
+4
 *At ACHS, Reading/Writing SAT scores in 2019 revealed that 11th graders scored exactly 100 points below the state average. In Math, 11th graders scored 98 points below the state average.

PSAT – 2018 to 2019[v]
District
School
PSAT - Math
Grade 10
Change from 2018 to 2019
PSAT-Reading/Writing
Grade 10
Change from
2018 to 2019


2017-18
2018-19

2017-18
2018-19

STATE

465
462
-3
479
476
-3
Adams 14
Adams City High
401
398
-3
418
407
-11
APS
Aurora Central
383
388
+5
391
388
-3

Gateway
399
395
-4
400
397
-3
DPS
Abraham Lincoln
401
403
+2
397
387
-10

Manual
401
398
-3
408
393
-15
Pueblo 60
Central
406
403
-3
434
428
-6



(2)  Attendance and Truancy – (Hard to learn when you are not in class) - 2017-18 and 2018-19

The attendance rate was down at 4 schools and remained below 80% at Manual. The truancy rate increased at 5 schools. It is hard to analyze the change at Central High in Pueblo 60 as its school year was shortened by 18 days.* (The new 4-day week - 148 school days – began in the fall of 2018.)

District
School
Attendance Rate[vi]
Truancy Rate[vii]
Truancy rate increased from 2018 to 2019


2017-18
2018-19
2017-18
2018-19
STATE AVERAGE

92.53%
92.30%
2.82%
2.98%
Adams 14
Adams City High**
86.56
82.47
8.63
13.37
Up 4.74
APS
Aurora Central**
80.57
79.22
15.65
17.08
Up 1.43

Gateway**
81.78
78.18
13.10
16.73
Up 3.63
DPS
Abraham Lincoln
86.87
85.69
10
10.81
Up 0.81

Manual
79.34
79.34
15.5
16.21
Up 0.71
Pueblo 60
Central

84.32

10.27

*2017-18: 5-day week - 166 school days, and thus difficult to compare to 2018-19: 4-day week - 148 school days.
**Total Student Days Unexcused Absent for all Students: ACHS–52,636 days; Adams High–39,177 days; Gateway–38,915 days.
Addendum B - More on how attendance is a concern shared by many in the ACHS community.


(3)  Most recent remediation rates.[viii] (Speaks to college readiness. Graduation rates do not.)

District
School
Enrollment
Remediation rate
   2017 graduates enrolled in college


2018-19*
NOTE ON SCHOOL SIZE
2015
2016
2017
# of students enrolled in college that fall
# of students needing remediation
STATE


35%
35.9%
34.8%
21,234
7,383
Adams 14
Adams City High
1,764
64%
68.5%
66%
91
60
APS
Aurora Central
2,000
70%
65%
67%
87
58

Gateway
1,550
56%
64%
59%
75
44
DPS
Abraham Lincoln
952
71%
58%
52%
96
50

Manual
299
57%
79%
69%
29
20
Pueblo 60
Central
743
77%
57%
61%
101
62
*http://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/20190124enrollment - School size can be a factor in school turnaround work, but in spite of the different sizes of these six Colorado high schools, remediation results are remarkably similar.



Addendum A – A DECADE of the School Performance Framework[ix]

The state board is familiar with the information, below. It reminds us that districts have known of and have carried a responsibility for the chronic low performance of these schools for many years. (I see no reason districts should be allowed the excuse: “We just started this turnaround effort two years ago.”)

SPF Rating – 2010 – 2018, plus preliminary rating for 2019
I = Improvement
PI = Priority Improvement
T = Turnaround

No SPF Ratings were given in 2015 when the state assessment changed from TCAP to CMAS.

District
School
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2016
2017
2018
2019
(prel)
Year
Adams 14
Adams City High
T
PI
PI
PI
PI
PI
T
PI
PI
9
APS
Aurora Central
PI
PI
PI
PI
PI
T
PI
PI
PI
9

Gateway
I
PI
I
I
PI
PI
PI
PI
T
5
DPS
Abraham Lincoln
I
PI
I
I
PI
PI
PI
PI
PI
5

Manual
I
I
I
T
T
PI
PI
PI
PI
6
Pueblo 60
Central
PI
PI
I
I
PI
PI
PI
PI
PI
5

In the fall of 2014 each district must have realized they had a school (or two) that needed fundamental change. Will these districts accept responsibility for their failure to see significant improvement over the past five years? Or will they assert that they just have not had enough time yet to show better results?

District
School
Year first on clock as a school on Priority Improvement or Turnaround
SPF rating
2018
SPF rating
2019 (preliminary)
2018 to 2019
Adams 14
Adams City High
2010
39.5
35.5
Down 4 pts
APS
Aurora Central
2010
37.4
35.2
Down 2.2

Gateway
2011
37.1
37.8
Up 0.6
DPS
Abraham Lincoln
2011
41.8
41.4
Down 0.4

Manual
2013
40.3
39.8
Down 0.5
Pueblo 60
Central
2010
41.2
41.5
Up 0.3


Addendum B – Attendance at Aurora Central High School
From “Aurora Central Pathways Recommendation,”[x] presented to APS school board on Oct. 1

Common Themes - result of surveys – Under Weaknesses
from Parents: “Lack of parent understanding of the attendance policy and procedures” (p. 56)
from Staff: “Attendance and tardiness still an issue” (p. 57)
from Students: “Attendance/Skipping classes is an issue” (p. 58)

Data page (p. 43) states: Average Daily Attendance is up 3.2 ppts. since 2014-15. 
[MY COMMENT: This point fails to point out how the attendance rate at ACHS has remained below 80% all but once over the past six years, and that in 2019 it was not much different than in 2013-14.]


2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
ACHS
78.96%
76.81%
76.53%
76.66%
80.57%
79.22%



Endnotes


[i]AV #131, “Higher graduation rates? A word of caution before we celebrate,” (June 10, 2015)
High school graduation rates aren’t necessarily a reason to celebrate,” The Denver Post (July 2, 2015)
AV #183, “Remediation rates suggest our graduation rates will soon fall,” (Sept. 5, 2018)