Vancouver Public Schools - Milestone Benchmarks Graduation – A Team Effort June 5, 2012

Students Ready for Kindergarten Children living in poverty are more at risk for language delays 61% of low-income children have no age-appropriate books in their homes Low-income children hear, on average, 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers before the age of 4 Children from low-income families enter kindergarten with a listening vocabulary of 3,000 words – 17,000 words less than their middle-income peers The average low-income 5-year old recognizes only 9 letters of the alphabet, compared with 22 letters for their middle-income peers Supported by research Few and powerful Study results cited by Reach Out and Read (www.reachoutanread.org) 2

What are the VPS Milestone Benchmarks? Student learning results shared across our system Critical “check points” on the way to college, career and life ready 3

VPS Milestone Benchmarks Students ready for college and career 10th graders passing the state assessment 9th graders ready for high school 7th graders ready for pre-algebra or algebra in 8th grade 6th graders ready for middle school 3rd graders reading on grade level Students ready for kindergarten

7th graders ready for pre-algebra or algebra in 8th grade Each benchmark is connected to efforts at preceding and subsequent grade levels. 7th graders ready for pre-algebra or algebra in 8th grade 6th grade What does it look like to be a sixth grader who will be prepared to meet the 7th grade benchmark? What data will help us know? How will we respond if students are not on track? 5

7th graders ready for pre-algebra or algebra in 8th grade Each benchmark is connected to efforts at preceding and subsequent grade levels. 7th graders ready for pre-algebra or algebra in 8th grade 6th grade 5th grade 4th grade 3rd grade 2nd grade School and district action plans for mathematics intend to impact teaching and learning at every grade level. 1st grade Kindergarten

VPS Milestone Benchmarks 26 measures Milestone Benchmark Measures, or indicators Collaboration – Principals, district administrators and instructional support staff Consensus model and communication to all district leadership Adoption by VPS Board of Directors in June 2010 Most measures have a five-year (2015) target. Example: In 10-11, 73% of ninth graders earned at least 5.5 credits. The target for 2015 is 80%. 7

Why THESE Milestone Benchmarks? Supported by research Few and powerful 8

On-Time and Extended Graduation Rates … and 6th grade GPA is a predictor of 9th grade credit accrual. … 9th grade credit accrual is a predictor of graduation… Analysis of our graduation and drop-out data shows that …

9th Grade Credit Accrual as a Predictor of Graduation Credits at the End of the 9th Grade Year Probability of Graduating Green 6+ 93% Yellow 4-5.9 68% Red <4 11%

What do the Milestone Benchmarks Mean for Us? Identify and quantify our shared aspirations around student learning results Provide a more complete measure of student achievement and system performance Support intervention based on meaningful data and analysis Informed Action Understanding Results 11

Gauging Our Growth 12

Vancouver Public Schools - Milestone Benchmarks Graduation – A Team Effort June 5, 2012 13