BOARD ENDS POLICY REVIEW E-2 Reading and Writing Testing Results USD 244 Board of Education March 12, 2001

Iowa Test of Basic Skills Reading n Nationally-Normed Test n Tests curriculum items most commonly taught in classroom across the nation. n Given to all 1st through 8th and 12th grade students. n Testing window is the first two weeks of October.

n Grade levels scoring within the average range - 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. n Grade levels scoring above the average range - 1st, 3rd, 8th, and 12th. n There are no grade levels scoring below the average range. n There is very little difference between the scores of “all” students and “general education” students at most grade levels. The greatest difference appears in grade 7.

n There are no significant differences between subscores across the grade levels. n The 1st and 3rd grade classes scored above the average range on all three subscores. n Most scores fell within the average range.

n The greatest percent of students scoring in the upper quartile are at grades 1, 3, and 12. n The greatest percent of students in the lower quartile are at grades 2 and 5.

n With the exception of grades 2 and 3, males scored consistently lower than females in reading. n The greatest gender differences occurred at grade 12. n Low SES students scored below high SES students at all grade levels. n Low SES groups scored below the average range in grades 2 and 5. n High SES groups scored above the average range in grades 1, 3, 7, 8, and 12.

n In program improvement, three grade levels showed upward trends while six grade levels showed downward trends. n Following the cohort groups, scores reveal upward trends by two groups and downward trends by four groups.

Kansas Reading Assessment n Mandated by the Kansas State Board of Education n Measures achievement toward the Kansas Curricular Standards for Reading n Given to all 5th, 8th, and 11th grade students. n Testing window is in the month of March. n The 2000 Assessment is baseline data.

n USD 244 students scored above the state average at all three grade levels.

n 5th grade students scored highest in narrative and technical reading and lowest in persuasive reading. n 8th grade students scored highest in technical reading and lowest in expository reading. n 11th grade students scored highest in narrative reading and lowest in persuasive reading.

n Gender differences are not significant across the three grade levels. n High SES students scored 10% higher than Low SES students at grade 11.

n This is the data that determines whether or not a school has achieved the standard of excellence. n All students are included in this data. n According to Kansas standards, no USD 244 school is currently at the standard of excellence in reading. n The graph on the right illustrates KSDE requirements for the standard of excellence in reading.

n Elementary and middle school teachers were asked to give their perceptions of where students fall in the five performance levels for reading. They were asked to base judgements on the student’s ability to read grade level materials. n The data represents all students in each building. n The percent of students in each category were very close in the advanced, basic and unsatisfactory categories. n Elementary teachers perceive more students in the proficient level than do middle school teachers.

n The greatest gender differences occurred at grades 5 and 11. n Low SES scores are significantly lower than the High SES scores at grades 8 and 11. n There are no SES comparisons at grade 5.

n Students taking college prep courses scored higher than those not taking the college prep courses. n Total group ACT scores show an upward trend over the past 5 years. n BHS core students scored at about the state average and about a point above the national average.

Iowa Test of Basic Skills Language n Nationally-Normed Test n Tests curriculum items most commonly taught in classroom across the nation. n Given to all 1st through 8th and 12th grade students. n Testing window is the first two weeks of October.

n Grade levels scoring within the average range - 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. n Grade levels scoring above the average range - 1st, 3rd, 8th (general ed.), and 12th. n There are no grade levels below the average range. n The greatest differences when comparing all students and general education students are evident at the middle school level.

n There is a significant drop in scores for listening and usage between grades 1 and 2. n In grades 3, 4, and 5, the lower scores are in punctuation and spelling. n Ist and 3rd grades have several subscores above the average range.

n The greatest percent of students scoring in the upper quartile are at grades 1, 3, 8, and % of the 1st grade class scored in the upper quartile. n The greatest percent of students in the lower quartile are at grades 2 and 5. 51% of the 2nd grade class scored in the lower quartile.

n In program improvement, two grade levels showed upward trends while seven grade levels showed downward trends. n Following the cohort groups, scores reveal downward trends within all groups except one.

Kansas Writing Assesment n Given to all students in grades 5, 8, and 11. n 5th grade students are prompted to write a narrative essay. n 8th grade students are prompted to write an expository essay. n 11th grade students are prompted to write a persuasive essay. n Student essays are judged on the following criteria: u Ideas and Content u Organization u Voice u Word Choice u Sentence Fluency u Conventions n Ratings are on a 5-point scale with 5 being the highest rating. n Essays are scored by a team of local teachers. Each essay is rated by two different teachers. n Raters use blind scoring, meaning that the students’ names are removed from the essays. n A sampling of the papers go to the University of Kansas for scoring.

n There is very little difference between the scores of all students and the general education population.

n 5th grade students scored highest in Ideas and Content, Voice, and Word Choice. n 5th grade students scored lowest in Organization and Sentence Fluency. n 8th grade students scored highest in Ideas and Content and Voice. n 8th grade students scored lowest in Sentence Fluency. n 11th grade students scored highest in Voice. n 11th grade students scored lowest in Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions.

n Female students scored higher than male students across all three grade levels. n High SES scored higher than low SES across all three grade levels.

n This is the data that determines whether or not a school has achieved the standard of excellence. n All students are included in this data. n According to Kansas standards, no USD 244 school is currently at the standard of excellence in reading. n The graph on the right illustrates KSDE requirements for the standard of excellence in reading.

n Students taking college prep courses scored higher than those not taking the college prep courses. n Total group ACT scores show an upward trend over the past 5 years. n BHS core students scored at about the state average and about a point above the national average.