School Reports | |
 School Improvement PlanEvery school in the district has a School Improvement Plan that encourages and supports their efforts to create new and innovative ways to improve teaching and learning; the District implements effective ways of assessing and sharing these efforts across schools. It is important to identify and acknowledge the things schools currently do well and to apply these successful practices throughout the District. Contact your school to view their School Improvement Plan. Measurement of Student Progress (MSP) Statewide Assesment The Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) is the state’s exam for students in grades 3-8. The MSP name conveys the goal of the test: to measure student progress. State testing should never be the sole judge of a student’s academic skills and knowledge. A student’s entire performance should always be considered. Review your child's school's MSP Report Card on the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's website. The Washington State School Report Card provides parents with information about K-12 public schools. It includes a wealth of information about school demographics, student performance and school staff. No Child Left Behind (NCLB); How a school gets out of AYP sanction: To get out of AYP sanction the state requires a school to either make standard or 10% improvement for two consecutive years, (known as Safe Harbor)*. Some schools across the state got out of AYP sanction by making 10% improvement. This year, 2011, we came within 1% of making standard, but this high score is roughly only 9% improvement, not enough for AYP. The state doesn't take into account how wide the gap between achievement and standard is as long as there are two consecutive years of 10% growth in lieu of making standard. That means that a school close to standard, like Orchard Heights, has a much greater challenge to reach a 10% growth goal than a school further away from the standard. In other words, a school could be far from reaching standard, but have made two years of 10% improvement and would no longer be considered a school in improvement. The interesting point here is that the state doesn't consider how close or distant from standard a school is; it's simply yes or no whether the school made standard or 10% growth. *AYP is based on continuously enrolled students (CE-students enrolled continuously from October 1st through the test window.) The state uses CE scores for AYP determination, but reports ALL scores online. This means when you look up test scores online or read them in the paper, they are slightly different from the scores used to calculate and report on AYP status. |
