Superintendent Update - August 2013

New Mansfield ISD Superintendent, Dr. Jim Vaszauskas, discusses the latest on district preparations to welcome returning students, new school construction, the new semester exam pilot program at Lake Ridge High School and an update on the budget.

Watch the August Superintendent Update:

Photo Galleries:

• Tarver-Rendon Elementary Construction 
• Judy K. Miller Elementary Construction
• J.L. Boren Elementary Demolition

As a reminder, the new Judy K. Miller Elementary is the temporary staging campus for J.L. Boren Elementary starting in the 2013-14 school year. Read more: bit.ly/MISDBigMove

A Primer on U.S. and Texas Accountability Systems

We often get questions about accountability, student testing and what it all means to Mansfield ISD.

The following is based on the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Presentation given to the MISD School Board on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 by Dr. Jim Vaszauskas, Associate Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability:

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) refers to the federally mandated accountability system required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)...

No Child Left Behind

• No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed by Congress in 2001.
• In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the bill into law.
• Measures reading and math in grades 3-8 and grade 10.
• Ultimate goal is to have all (100%) children proficient in reading and math by 2014.
• NCLB as originally passed expired in 2007.
• The reauthorization and rewrite of NCLB have stalled in Congress. The House committee and Senate committee that oversee education have completed their respective rewrites but no additional action has been taken.
• The secretary of education is allowing states to apply for waivers, IF they agree to certain stipulations: common core curriculum, college readiness standards, etc.
• Schools are measured in reading and math in grades 3-8 and 10.
• 7 student groups are measured: all students, African American, Hispanic, white, Special Education (SPED), English language learners (ELL), and economically disadvantaged.
• SPED has a 3% cap on modified testing. Students over this cap are counted as failures even if they pass the test.
• Schools typically must meet more than 30 standards. Schools that miss one or more standards are deemed to have missed AYP.

AYP Sanctions

• Schools that fail in one or more categories miss AYP and IF they accept *Title 1 funding are subject to sanctions.
• Sanctions become more punitive for campuses that miss AYP in the same student group and subject over time.
• Sanctions escalate: school choice, tutoring, new curriculum, fire principal and staff, reconstitute school.
• Schools that do not accept Title 1 funding are NOT subject to any sanctions.

The Politics of NCLB

• The Federal Secretary of Education has granted waivers from AYP requirements to 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (as of May 11, 2012).
• Texas is not applying for a waiver.
• Texas' accountability system differs from NCLB in the subjects tested, the student groups counted, passing standards, and sanctions. STAAR passing standards 3-8 will not be set until next year, but the state had to develop a bridge ranking to determine passing standards this year.
• It is possible to be highly ranked on the state accountability system and miss AYP.
• All MISD schools are held to the standards of the state accountability system.
• The federal accountability system (AYP) must be calculated for all MISD schools; however, only 19 of our schools (Title 1) are held to the sanctions.
• AYP has been removed in both House and Senate committee drafts. (However, the law's reauthorization has stalled in Congress until presumably after the Presidential election.)

State-wide Issues

• Approximately 71% of Texas districts missed AYP.
• Alvarado, Arlington, Birdville, Crowley, Dallas, Duncanville, Eagle-Mountain Saginaw, Everman, Fort Worth, Grapevine Colleyville, Grand Prairie, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Irving, Keller, Kennedale, Lake Worth, Mansfield, Midlothian, Northwest, Plano, Weatherford, and White Settlement school districts missed AYP.
• No make up tests were counted this year.
• Passing standards for STAAR have not been set.
• Texas implemented a completely new criterion referenced test in 2011-12 – State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) – to replace the TAKS test that had been in existence for eight years.

Mansfield ISD's Response to NCLB

• Campuses (administration and teachers) are aware of their students' performance, both strengths and opportunities for improvement.
• Campus Improvement Plans will address targeted areas.
• Principals of schools that missed AYP will analyze performance data in January for necessary mid-course corrections and interventions.
• Elementary campuses are moving to a more consistent intervention and inclusion (co-teach) model.
• We are continuing to follow our curriculum management plan: three years ago, we trained our employees; two years ago, we wrote our curriculum; last year, we implemented our curriculum; this year, we revised our curriculum based on teacher feedback and we are developing common assessments for k-6.

Additional Staff Development

• Additional intensive professional development for intermediate and middle school math teachers on teaching the hard to reach student.
• Additional intensive professional development for SPED department on SPED Cap requirements.
• Additional intensive professional development for our ELL department on closing the gap.
• We continue to work with our teachers on teaching a guaranteed, viable curriculum.

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*Title 1: To qualify as a Title 1 school, at least 40% of the students enrolled must qualify for the free and reduced meal plan. Mansfield ISD has economically disadvantaged students at all 41 schools, but unless they attend a school where at least 40%  of the student enrollment is on the free and reduced meal plan, they do not receive any federal Title 1 support.
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Related Links:

• No Child Left Behind is showing its age, and AYP has lost its meaning (Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial)
• Texplainer: What if Schools Don’t Meet Benchmarks? (Texas Tribune)

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/08/09/4169632/no-child-left-behind-is-showing.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Photo credit: atomicity via Flickr Creative Commons

STAAR EOC 15 Percent Rule Survey Results

We recently asked the community to weigh on a pressing question related to the STAAR end-of-course (EOC) 15% issue. Here's what we found out and what happened.

Background
The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR™) replaced the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS).

STAAR™ includes the 12 end-of-course (EOC) assessments mandated by SB 1031 in 2007 and the new grade 3–8 assessments mandated by HB 3 in 2009. The new tests will be implemented in the 2011–2012 school year.

On Friday, February 17, 2012, the Texas Commissioner of Education, Robert Scott, announced that he is giving school districts the option to waive for one year the requirement that the students' EOC score count as 15% of the final course average.

Mansfield ISD sought feedback from the community on the 15% rule that is now optional for districts through the use of an online survey that ran Thursday morning, February 23 thru Monday afternoon, February 27.

The survey asked the following: Should Mansfield ISD include STAAR end-of-course (EOC) exam results at 15% of the final course grade in 2011-12? [Doing so may have an impact on course credit, GPA, class rank, and UIL eligibility.]

The results were overwhelmingly against including EOC results this year:

• 10% (426) - Yes, MISD should include EOC exam results at 15% of the final course grade this year. 
• 79% (3220) - No, MISD should not include EOC exam results at 15% of the final course grade this year. 
• 11% (429) - I do not have enough information about the 15% rule, EOC or STAAR testing to share an opinion now. 
• Survey Total - 4075 

Demographic info:
75% (3060) - Parent
17% (689) - Teacher/Staff
6% (233) - Student
2% (79) - Administrator
0% (14) - Patron

On Tuesday, February 28, the Mansfield ISD school board voted to amend the grading guidelines so that the End-of-Course assessments are not calculated in the final course averages for this 2011-2012 school year.

Go to the STAAR/End of Course Information Blog Post for additional information about the new student assessment.

Student Testing Update - STAAR/EOC

New state testing begins this school year with the implementation of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR The standardized testing program includes tests for students in grades 3–12.

Mansfield ISD will use this blog, the MISD Department of Research, Assessment and Accountability website, as well as information at the campuses to keep parents informed of the changes in student testing.

About STAAR (3-8)

Texas is phasing in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exams which will test the same subject areas as the TAKS tests. STAAR testing will begin in March 2012 on these subjects:

• Grades 3 through 8: reading and math
• Grades 4 and 7: writing
• Grades 5 and 8: science
• Grade 8: social studies

End Of Course
Ninth grade in the 2011–2012 school year will be the first class required to take STAAR End Of Course (EOC) assessments. The 12 EOC assessments are:

• English I, English II, English III
• Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II
• Biology, Chemistry, Physics
• World Geography, World History, and U.S. History

The test will have three levels of proficiency. Level 1 is for unsatisfactory academic performance, level 2 for satisfactory performance and level 3 for advanced academic performance. State accountability ratings, which will be based largely on STAAR results, have been suspended for the 2011-12 school year.

Source: Texas Education Agency

Additional Resources:

Open publication - Free publishing - More assessment

STAAR - A guide to the High School Testing Program

STAAR - A parent’s guide to the student testing program

Wondering what the STAAR and End of Course exam questions will look like? 

Wonder no more, see the STAAR Released Test Questions.

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On Tuesday, February 28, the Mansfield ISD school board voted to amend the grading guidelines so that the End-of-Course assessments are not calculated in the final course averages for this 2011-2012 school year.

Superintendent Update - October 2011

Dr. Bob Morrison discusses the new STAAR and EOC testing, MISD Parent/Teacher Conference Day, and info on the upcoming district-wide College and Career Night.

(Please note: If you cannot view the above video from inside the MISD network, please use the alternate video portal version.)

MISD Research, Assessment, and Accountability Web site Launched

The Mansfield ISD has recently launched a comprehensive Web site dedicated to research, assessment, and accountability data. The primary purpose of this site is to provide the community a “one stop shop” for all data related to student performance.

What do we hope to achieve by providing access to this type of data/research?
Providing performance data will support the district’s efforts of identifying strengths, weaknesses, and any achievement gaps that may exist between groups. With this insight, we will be able to set goals, develop strategies, and plan more effectively, taking into account the unique needs of each student.

Site visitors will have access to all accountability summaries at the district and campus level so progress on state and national standards can be assessed.

Information on this site includes the following:

• Evaluation and research reports
• Relevant links to external Web sites
• Manuals and guides for administering the different assessments
• School and district level reports (and ratings) – both state and federal
• Information for parents
• State mandated test dates
• Three to six years of test results for each school
• State and National Accountability Reports
• College Board results and links on how to register for College Board and ACT exams

Why are we providing this Web site?
While it is great to praise progress, it is counter-productive to avoid accepting and dealing with academic short-comings. Therefore, all data are made available publicly so we can see where the district’s been, where it is currently, and can plan for where it wants to go in the future. The goal is to be pro-active and not ignore those areas where improvement is needed.

Staff Benefits
The old phrase knowledge is power is relevant when one considers the fact that with knowledge comes an increase in one’s ability to utilize resources including time, personnel, and funding in a way that positively affects our students. By having access to current and trend level data, district educators are empowered. Our capacity to more effectively plan begins with being able to identify what’s working and what’s not. By having access to up-to-date data, action plans that are meaningful, measurable, and on target can be developed and implemented. Lastly, and more importantly, providing teachers with easy access to student level data will hopefully prevent any student from falling between the cracks and will enable teachers to identify areas that need attention before a pattern of failure develops.

Benefits for Parents
Parents will have easy access to how their child’s campus is performing on state and national tests and will be able to determine where their support can be most beneficial and effective to the campus. Additionally, in a later phase of the site’s development we will provide parents with access to their child’s test performance. This will enhance their ability to make informed decisions and to monitor their child’s academic progress.

What’s next for the site?
The MISD Research, Assessment and Accountability Department has several online projects currently in development.

• Phase I, just completed, provides readers with campus and district level summary reports, research studies and other articles, and links to external sites. Most of the reports presented at this time are in PDF and easily downloaded.
  
• Phase II of the Web site’s development focuses on a “query-based” system that extracts data from a centrally-maintained database. This phase will be available to the user via the “Report Builder” tab. Access to this function will be available on a limited basis to campus level teachers and administrators. With the implementation of this interactive feature, campus personnel will be able to access student level test data including TAKS and norm-referenced results so instructional strategies can be planned based on the unique needs of each student.
  
• Phase III will expand the “Report Builder” functionality to include campus summary reports based on a series of selection criteria designated by the user.
  
• Phase IV of this project is focused on the development of a portal that will provide parents with the means to access their child’s test performance via a login and password. The goal for providing this access is to empower parents in a way that helps them more fully understand their child’s academic needs so they can be better informed advocates.

Please visit the Mansfield ISD Research, Assessment, and Accountability site and let us know what you think.

Recipe for Math Success

The following is a guest post written by one of the district's math teachers.

Some people claim that “shortcuts” and “tricks” are detrimental to true learning. I disagree…giving our students tools to employ simply makes them better able to problem-solve in the future. With TAKS right around the corner, I want to share with you some strategies I have employed in the past to aid my students in increasing their overall grades as well as their TAKS test scores. I am hoping that you will be able to reinforce these methods at home and encourage your student to use some or all of these test-taking strategies to increase their achievement on all types of tests.

I have been using the following acronym (I know, I know…not another one) for several years and it has proved to be useful to many students.

We call it the “RECIPE.”

• R - Read each problem carefully twice
  (We all miss things the first time around.)
  
  
• E - Estimate your answer
  (Often answer choices can be eliminated with estimation.)
  
  
• C - Check/Convert units
  (Test writers just love to mix up the units.)
  
  
• I - Is it on the formula chart?
  (If they are going to give you a cheat sheet, USE IT!)
  
  
• P - Picture, Proportion, or Pythagorean Theorem?
  (The 3 P’s can solve about 1/3 of the problems on TAKS tests.)
  
  
• E - Eliminate wrong answers
  (Crossing out obviously incorrect answers takes your focus away from them and increases the probability of getting them right.)

I always add one final question…“Does my answer answer the question?” You would be surprised at how many questions are answered incorrectly, not because the student didn’t know how to do the problem, but because they did not provide the answer to the question that was asked.

Other techniques
In addition to following the “RECIPE” to success, we can encourage our students to utilize other strategies as well, some they already use on the reading sections of tests:

• Highlighting only the important information given in a problem and making notes in the margin about the type of problem or what you are looking for in the problem are both similar to techniques taught in Language Arts classes to help with reading comprehension.
  
• Focusing on one sentence of the word problem at a time helps students by breaking the problem into more manageable pieces to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
  
• Writing out the formulas, defining the necessary variables, and showing all of their work are a few more ways a student can be sure to be successful on tests.
  
• Bubbling the answer document last. So many kids get so bogged down in bubbling that they are not focused on the work necessary to be successful.

If you want to help your student further, there are many excellent resources available on the internet. One would be the Released TAKS test Web page. There you can access previous TAKS tests for each grade level and each subject. At the same site, you can access Test Study Aids on the left. Under the Study Aids link you will find TAKS study guides, released tests and answer keys. On the Legacy High School website, Stephanie Barnes, the TAKS coordinator, has created a series of links to pertinent TAKS information, including those websites referenced above.

Here are some last minutes things you can do as parents to help your student do their very best on TAKS:

• make sure they get a good night’s sleep the night before the test,
  
• make sure they get a good breakfast on the morning of the test, and
  
• send them to school with lots of positive encouragement and, of course, #2 pencils.
  

Good luck and high scores!!!

Kristi Kelton
Algebra I Teacher, Mansfield Legacy High School