Phillipsburg Middle School Identification as a School in Need of  Comprehensive Support and Improvement: Starting Community Conversations March 25, 2019 Phillipsburg School District Phillipsburg Middle School Dr. Gregory Troxell, Superintendent Dr. Maureen Kehoe, Assistant Superintendent Kathleen Troxell, Principal

Presentation Overview This presentation will cover the following topics: Background information about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) How schools are identified as a School in need of Comprehensive Support and Improvement Next steps for our school

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) On August 9, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education approved New Jersey's ESSA State Plan, which was developed in collaboration with stakeholders from across New Jersey. The plan emphasizes New Jersey’s collective expectation that all students have equal access to high-quality educational experiences so they may all reach their greatest potential. To fulfill this promise to our students, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) is obligated by federal law, and New Jersey’s ESSA State Plan, to identify schools in need of comprehensive and targeted support and improvement.  

ESSA School Accountability: Overview School accountability in ESSA is just one of the New Jersey accountability systems meant to improve student access to high-quality education programs. Its role is to identify our schools most in need of support and improvement.  School and District Reporting District Accountability (QSAC) School Accountability (ESSA)

Our School  Phillipsburg Middle School has been designated as a school in need of Comprehensive Support and Improvement. What is a Comprehensive School? Schools performing at or below the bottom fifth percentile of all Title I schools (elementary and middle schools) High schools with a graduation rate of 67% or less Insert the name(s) of your school(s) and their identification

How Was Our School Identified? New Jersey’s ESSA school accountability system provides a formula to determine a performance score, which is based on various measures of progress (accountability indicators). Our school has been identified based on its relative low performance using these measures. 

New Jersey's ESSA Accountability Indicators Academic Achievement: Percentage of students in the school who meet/exceed grade- level standards on each required annual statewide assessment, such as PARCC or DLM Represented by two separate indicators – ELA Proficiency and Math Proficiency Academic Growth: Measure of students’ growth on the annual statewide assessment compared to other students in their academic peer group (median Student Growth Percentile) Represented by two separate indicators – ELA Growth and Math Growth Graduation Rate: Percentage of students who graduate in four or five years Represented by two separate indicators – 4-Year and 5-Year Graduation Rate Progress toward English Language Proficiency: Percentage of English learners that demonstrate expected annual growth on the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 test School Quality and Student Success: Measured by chronic absenteeism, which is the percentage of students who are not present 10% or more of their total days in membership. These are the 5 indicators the New Jersey will use for ESSA Accountability.  The first 4 are based on federal requirements, and Chronic Absenteeism was chosen based on stakeholder feedback.

Accountability Indicators: Weighting Each indicator is weighted to determine a summative score for the school with focus on student growth and equity. NJ State Plan Indicator Elementary/ Middle ELP Available ELP Missing High School Mixed Configuration Academic Proficiency 30% 35% 20% 25% Academic Growth 40% 50% 0% Graduation Rate Progress toward English Language Proficiency (ELP) Chronic Absenteeism 10% 15% The weights for each indicator are determined based on school configuration and whether the ELP indicator is available. Each column of weights adds to 100%. These six versions of weights represent the most common configurations.  However, if a school is missing data for any other data element (e.g. Math Proficiency or Chronic Absenteeism), the weights will be adjusted. *Schools with missing indicator data will have adjusted weights.

Student Groups Summative Cut Score 14.08 Two or more races (21 students) – 7.21 ELA growth and Chronic absenteeism White - 11.58 Math growth and Chronic absenteeism Students with Disabilities – 13.56 ELA and Math Proficiency ELA and Math Growth Chronic absenteeism

What Happens Next? Assess needs related to the areas of weakness Identify strategies and resources that can impact improvement Create an Annual School Plan that will outline specific steps Outline a timeline for completion of those steps  Understand the steps needed to be removed from status 

Annual School Plan Goals Language Arts Literacy – Reading – raising Lexile scores of students reading two or more grade levels below expectations Mathematics – Increase score on end of year benchmark Culture and Climate – Decrease in student referrals for discipline State support Dr. Michael Gilbert – Office of Comprehensive Support Title I SIA Funding – $76,900 (current) More funding for the 2019-2020 school year

Action Steps Review the needs assessment in the Annual School Plan Analyze the data Assess the rigor of the curriculum and make revisions Instruction – Do we have the teachers placed to best fit the needs of the students? Are there changes that need to take place in instruction? Middle School Schedule Transition from 5th to 6th grade – Vertical articulation Interventions for students reading below grade level – READ 180 (current) What else is needed? Professional development – Inspired Instruction Advisor period – Second Step Program Continue Math tutoring Collaboration with Special education – What changes are needed? Target students who are absent 10% of school year (18 days)

How Can We Learn More? Detailed school information will be publicly available on the NJDOE website in School Performance Reports. School Performance Reports: Provide families, educators and the public a picture of overall school performance. Include valuable information across many elements, including schoolwide academic achievement and progress, demographics, school climate, chronic absenteeism, and college and career readiness.  Can be used to start local conversations by asking questions such as: How is our school doing relative to other schools? Are all of our students making progress from last year?

For More Information Visit NJ’s ESSA State Plan website: www.state.nj.us/education/ESSA Visit our district website for updates www.pburgsd.net Email questions:  troxell.kathleen@pburgsd.net NJ Department of Education ESSA team:  essa@doe.state.nj.us