Reality Betters Perception in Latest NCLB Report Card

Despite the negative focus of the NCLB Report Card, most grade levels and student groups saw academic growth at DMPS.

The most recent round of headlines about the state’s No Child Left Behind Report Card, released this week by the Iowa Department of Education, were often gloom and doom, highlighting how two out of three schools were failing to meet the requirements of the federal law.

Buried within those stories, however, were two key points. First, under the law in its current format, nearly every school will be “in need of assistance” if NCLB remains unchanged. And second, many districts in Iowa – including Des Moines Public Schools – are seeing steady academic growth by students.

“No Child Left Behind has outlived its usefulness as a lever for improving student achievement in our country,” said Dr. Brad Buck, director of the Iowa Department of Education. “We need some different solutions. In Iowa, we embrace high expectations and accountability, but we must have an approach that dignifies growth and progress as much as proficiency on a test. We want a rigorous system that both acknowledges growth and holds schools and districts accountable without labeling schools that fall short of proficiency targets as failures.”

“It [NCLB] doesn’t really measure anything that’s helpful to school districts. It punishes you but it doesn’t acknowledge when schools are doing well,” Phil Roeder, director of communications for Des Moines Public Schools, told WHO-TV. “If there is anything to learn from the report card it is that this law has outlived its usefulness and it’s time to change it.”

Despite the negative focus of NCLB, the facts show that students in Des Moines Public School are making consistent, steady and in many cases significant gains in the classroom. This is reflected by more than just a single measure, of course. As Superintendent Tom Ahart noted at the Board meeting: “What teachers do in classrooms every day to fully develop our students goes way, way beyond the measure of one test.”

But, even when looking at the latest results from one test, the Iowa Assessments – the state-wide test that measures student proficiency in reading and math – students in Des Moines are heading in the right direction. Data from the state-wide tests were presented at the September 16 meeting of the Des Moines School Board.

“The academic achievement of Des Moines students in the areas of reading and math continues to steadily head in the right direction: up,” noted interim Chief of Academics Holly Crandell. “The growth we are seeing in the classroom is a testament to the good work of our educators and our students at Des Moines Public Schools.”

Despite the “failure” label applied to more and more school districts by the NCLB law, the Iowa Assessments confirms student growth across nearly every grade level and demographic group in Des Moines. Consider these facts:

MATHEMATICS

• Students in grades 3-5 showed an overall increase of 0.7% in math proficiency between the spring of 2013 and the spring of 2014. With the exception of low SES students and students with disabilities, every demographic subgroup increased (proficiency for low SES students declined only 0.1%). African-American students had an increase of 3.3%, the largest of any student group.
• Students in grades 6-8 showed an overall increase of 2.5% in math proficiency. Every demographic subgroup increased. ELL students had an increase of 5.8%, the largest of any student group.
• Students in grades 11 showed an overall increase of 3.8% in math proficiency. With the exception of students with disabilities, every demographic subgroup increased. ELL students had an increase of 14.8%, the largest of any student group.

READING

• Students in grades 3-5 showed an overall increase of 1.9% in reading proficiency between the spring of 2013 and the spring of 2014. Every demographic subgroup increased. African-American students had an increase of 3.1%, the largest of any student group.
• Students in grades 6-8 showed an overall increase of 10.9% in reading proficiency. Every demographic subgroup increased. ELL students had an increase of 19.0%, the largest of any student group.

The above gains are on top of similar gains made last year.

The only area that showed a decline was reading for grade 11, which went down 8.6% between the spring of 2013 and the spring of 2014. However, it might not be as alarming as it seems at first glance.

“While on the one hand this is a concern, on the other hand it coincides with a statewide decline in 11th grade reading scores which likely resulted from changes to the Iowa Assessment,” said Dr. Mary Grinstead, director of assessment for Des Moines Public School. “It’s important to note that, during the same time, we actually saw an increase in reading scores for the vast majority of high school juniors who also take the ACT exam at DMPS.”

What accounts for the steady gains being made at DMPS?

Academic and curriculum experts points to several steps, including:

• The use of Reading Recovery for students in grade 1, which provides highly targeted 1:1 support.
• The assignment of Elementary Interventionists to grades K-2, who offer small group support to struggling readers using Reading Recovery strategies.
• The System 44 program for grades 3-5, a blended learning environment using technology to provide students support in foundational literacy skills.
• The 2012 literacy instructional materials upgrade to Journeys and the 2014 math instructional materials upgrade to Go Math! Both comprehensive programs are aligned to the Iowa Common Core Standards and provide support to English Language Learners.
• Power Algebra and Power English, courses where students with demonstrated needs in core skills receive targeted instruction from teachers trained and equipped to facilitate a growth-driven classroom.
• Increased enrollment in AP courses to provide greater access to more rigorous, college-level coursework.
• Access to Achieve3000 software, a differentiated online literacy solution for grade 6-12.
• A more comprehensive approach to the educational needs of the growing population of ELL students.