MONTE VISTA— Monte Vista School District building principals shared Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) scores at the Thursday, Sept. 14 meeting of the board of education.
The educators expressed continued frustration with the way in which data is collected, and the lack of being able to recognize students who may be talented in many other areas. They nevertheless expressed pride in student achievements and talked about ideas for improvement.
Bill Metz Elementary Principal Gabe Futrell gave the first report. Futrell began by sharing that Bill Metz has gained a strength recognized by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) in regards to negative behavior. He said that negative behavior has significantly dropped over the course of several years and credits the hard work put in by teachers to make behavior expectations known throughout the building. Futrell said they will continue working to make sure expectations are also understood in the playground.
In reference to test scores Futrell reported that there were some drops when compared to previous years. The elementary team has developed a plan to address the test scores by scheduling intervention and enrichment time for students in reading and math. They are also working to ensure they use common language throughout the school.
Middle School Principal Tom Tichy was the next to share his building’s scores. Tichy stated the middle school showed good progress in growth for PARCC and are at “approaching” levels for achievement. Tichy said that the school met or exceeded state expectations except in seventh grade language arts and eighth grade math.
Tichy said that a unique thing they are doing at the middle school to help improve schools is sharing the data with the students and engaging in conversations with them about the scores. The teaching staff then has the students set personal goals. Superintendent Bob Webb said he liked the implementation and said he believed there was a noticeable difference by changing the students’ mindset and asking them to believe in themselves.
High School Principal Scott Wiedeman next shared his building’s results. Wiedeman said the high school scores include PSAT and SAT. Wiedeman said the high school team knew where they needed to make improvements. Wiedeman said there’s some growth and they are meeting the 50th percentile. He said that the high school has a goal to collect data on a monthly basis and ensure students are making progressa.
Wiedeman said he was proud that 72 percent of students enroll in some type of technical or higher education following graduation. He said the high school also prides itself on students who take college level courses.
Wiedeman said that he tries to meet with students on an individual basis to share their scores with them and help them think through strategies for improvement. He also shared that all teachers are giving practice questions sometime throughout their class.
Delta Center and Online Academy Director Kevin Wright was the last to share scores. Wright said that there was not enough data to properly assess his programs. As a result the Online Academy will be appealing their rating to CDE. Due to number of data points, graduation rates and matriculation Wright feels the data is invalid.
Wright also shared that many students from his programs go on to very successful careers and should be better recognized.