The U.S. Department of Education announced today the release
of 2011-12 school and district-level state assessment data and a brief analysis
of School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools. The Department’s analysis compares
the average proficiency rates of SIG schools in the 2011-12 school year to
rates in the year prior to receiving grants.
The SIG
program is a key component of the Department’s strategy for helping
states and districts turn around the nation’s lowest-performing schools. Under
the Obama Administration, more than 1,500 schools have implemented
comprehensive turnaround interventions aimed at drastically improving
achievement. Cohort 1 schools began implementing SIG turnarounds during the
2010-11 school year and Cohort 2 schools began implementing turnarounds during
the 2011-12 school year.
The brief analysis that accompanies today’s announcement
shows continued progress across various SIG models, school levels and
locations. Despite historically difficult learning environments, SIG schools have
increased proficiency rates in math and reading, demonstrating the importance
of targeted investments over time.
“The progress, while incremental, indicates that local
leaders and educators are leading the way to raising standards and achievement
and driving innovation over the next few years,” said U.S. Education Secretary
Arne Duncan. “To build on this success in our disadvantaged communities, we
must expand the most effective practices to accelerate progress for students
and prepare them for success in college and careers.”
Additional Highlights from the SIG Data release:
SIG schools are making gains – on average, proficiency rates
have increased in both math and reading. Because of changes in state
assessments and school structure, not all SIG schools could be compared over
multiple years of data. For this reason, the analysis includes roughly half of
SIG Cohort 1 schools and about two-thirds of Cohort 2 schools.
- On average, Cohort 1 schools
continued to improve in the second year of receiving SIG funds
- When compared to all schools
nationally, SIG Cohort 1 schools demonstrate larger increases in average
proficiency rates in both math and reading, while Cohort 2 schools
demonstrate larger increases in math, but similar increases in reading
- On average, Cohort 1 and 2 SIG
schools show gains across all SIG models
- On average, Cohort 1 SIG
schools show gains across all school levels, while Cohort 2 schools show
small gains for some school levels, but not for others
- On average, Cohort 1 SIG
schools show gains across all localities, while Cohort 2 schools show
small gains for some localities, but remain constant for others
- On average, Cohort 1 and 2 SIG
schools show larger gains in math than in reading
Examples from schools:
- At Oak Hill Elementary School,
in a high poverty area of Guilford County, N.C., the school day was
extended by 45 minutes and the school year by 10 days to give struggling
students extra one-on-one time with teachers. Kindergarten teachers
conduct home visits, and other teachers touch base with parents monthly to
talk about their child’s progress. These efforts, among others,
worked: student performance scores in math rose from 59 percent in SY
2009-10 to 86 percent in SY2011-12. In reading, scores rose from 34 to 50
percent, and science skyrocketed from 34 percent to 85 percent. The
school, ranked last among elementary schools in Guilford County three
years ago, is now 28th in the district.
- At Baltimore’s Frederick
Douglass High School, the second oldest historically integrated public
high school in the United States, the dropout rate was cut in half and
proficiency in English language arts jumped from 41 percent to 53 percent
in the first year of the grant. Scores have continued to improve at the school with nearly 90
percent Free and Reduced Lunch enrollment. The school opened a night
school where students can get tutoring or take credit recovery classes and
added a recording and media production studio where career and technical
students can train. The school also began offering students the chance to
take dual enrollment classes at nearby Baltimore City Community College.
- Findley Elementary School in Des Moines, IA, instituted
a strong leadership focus, unwavering emphasis on Iowa Core academic
standards, and an intense attention to data. Math proficiency rose from 59
percent in SY 2009-10 to 67 percent in SY2011-12. During the same
timeframe, Findley improved its proficiency in reading from 54 to 72 percent.
This release continues the
department's commitment to transparency of school-level data to better inform
parents, community members and the general public about changes in schools in
their communities.
The data being released are
reported to the Department under the requirements of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, as amended, and are available at www.data.gov,
the administration’s online site providing public access to high-value,
machine-readable datasets generated by the executive branch of the federal
government. New tables are being published as part of this release and may be
accessed by visiting http://explore.data.gov or by accessing the files directly:
- School-Level
Reading: https://explore.data.gov/Education/Achievement-Results-for-State-Assessments-in-Readi/6dpm-i24p?category=Education&view_name=Achievement-Results-for-State-Assessments-in-Readi
The SIG analysis is available
at: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/sigassessmentrpt-cohort1-2.pdf
Since the SIG program began
three years ago, the Department has released national- and school-level data
for SIG schools and SIG leading indicator data in June 2013. In addition, the
Department has released full school-level assessment data for SY 2008-9 through
SY 2010-11.
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