November 2014 State of the District Report

State of the District ReportNovember 2014

Submitted to the Blaine County School District Board of TrusteesBy GwenCarol Holmes, Ed.D., Superintendent

Our Mission: To be a world-class, student-focused, community of teaching and learning.

STAY CONNECTED! ( 2 0 8 ) 5 7 8 - 5 0 0 0www.blaineschools.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Executive Summary

Review of Listening Tour

Review of Student Data

District Expectations/Accountability

Accountability Systems and Measures

Other Measures of Academic Outcomes

Star Reading

Star Math

Idaho English Language Assessment (IELA)

Advanced Placement (AP) / Dual Credit (DC) Classes

SAT / ACT

Secondary Intervention Classes

Suspensions from School

Review of District Finances and Financial Systems

Review of Communication with Stakeholders

3

4

6

14

18

19

29

40

42

44

47

52

55

56

57

59

3

The arrival of a new superintendent for Blaine County School District and the completion of much of the district’s Strategic Plan (developed in 2007-08) provided an opportunity to assess the current state of the district. The hiring of a superintendent from outside of Blaine County set the stage for the superintendent to take steps to learn about the culture of the district, as well as about the past and current work of the district.

This State of the District Report contains information gained from an extensive Listening Tour by the superintendent, a review of student data (both demographic and outcome data), basic instructional programming, district finances and financial system, and internal and external communication.

This report contains multiple data points regarding district and student outcomes. Each data point represents a moment in time - the moment the student was assessed, the moment a patron was responding to questions. Standing alone each data point may or may not represent an accurate picture of the district or student learning. Using multiple data points together provides a greater level of confidence in understanding the bigger picture of how the district is performing and the outcomes our students are obtaining.

State of the District ReportNovember 2014

Blaine County School District #61Submitted to the Blaine County School District Board of Trustees By GwenCarol Holmes, Ed.D., Superintendent

© Roland LaneIdaho Mountain Express

4

Blaine County School District #61Executive Summary

A new superintendent took office in Blaine County School District on July 1, 2014. The first few months of her tenure provided the perfect opportunity to get to know the district through a Listening Tour, review of student data, and a review of the district’s financial system and superintendent’s communications.

One hundred sixteen face-to-face individual or group Listening Tour sessions were conducted and 279 individuals completed the on-line survey using the same questions as the Listening Tour. This was not a random survey, but rather individuals who elected to meet with the superintendent or participate in the survey to share their perceptions. From this information the superintendent learned that members of the county are warm and welcoming, value their schools, and expect them to continue to improve.

Are diverse: economically, ethnically, occupationally, and in educational levels and beliefs. The cities within the county are diverse as well. Have high expectations for their schools and their youth. Choose to live in Blaine County for the lifestyle. Do not trust how decisions are made in the district. Many believe a vocal minority disproportionately impact decisions. Care about each other and help each other. Are concerned about youth substance abuse.

Staff that are hard-working, skilled, and well educated. Programming that provides a large range of options.High expectations for students and staff. Well-resourced in materials, equipment, technology, personnel and facilities. Multiple partnerships with community organizations and parents. Small class sizes. Progressive stance.

Improving programming to add more active, authentic, and collaborative instructional models. Providing transparency in decision making and ensure all voices are heard. Providing a tighter focus for district decision making and programming. Personalizing education so that all student needs are met and achieved at high levels. Continuing to engage in district partnerships. Increasing resources for some programs.

The people of Blaine County:

The people of Blaine County value the following about BCSD:

The people of Blaine County believe BCSD could improve by:

5

A review of student data reveals that the students of Blaine County are 59% White and 39% Hispanic. This is a significant change in demographics from 15 years ago. Student enrollment grew steadily until the economic downturn and has remained consistent since then.

The district is focused on ensuring students develop 21st Century learning skills. However, it does not have a systematic way of measuring and monitoring student growth in these outcomes. The district does have student outcome data on traditional measures particularly around language, reading, and mathematics.

Traditional measures of assessment show that a number of BCSD students need to improve in language and reading as indicated by multiple data points (ISAT, IRI, STAR Reading, and IELA). BCSD students do much better in math (ISAT and STAR Math). BCSD students score high on indicators of college readiness including AP tests, SAT, and ACT. Hispanic students are over-represented in remedial classes such as Read 180 and Algebra I Intervention and under-represented in advanced opportunities such as AP and GATE classes.

A review of BCSD financial systems indicates that the district went through the economic downturn with minimal impact to programming, staffing, and wages. This is in significant contrast to other districts both in Idaho and across the country. As required by law the district has a financial audit each year. The last two audits were performed by two different firms and both revealed that district finance documents accurately represent the district’s position. A review of district procurement processes indicate that the district is fully compliant with procurement processes delineated under Idaho Statutes, Title 67, Chapter 56. District contracts, finacial records and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) are posted on the website. The district is in the process of developing MOUs with all of its partners in which funds or in-kind services are provided to further clarify the scope of each partnership. The procurement procedures are not clearly understood by staff and patrons not involved in the procurement process on a regular basis. The district will develop a procurement manual to better document the process used and help make these processes more transparent to its stakeholders.

Overall, the district is located in a community that supports and expects a great deal from its schools. Many of the students achieve at high levels and the program opportunities for students are extensive for the district’s size. The community and the district value 21st Century learning skills. The district is poised to achieve these outcomes with the community’s support, its excellent staff, its ample resources, and its continuous improvement mindset.

Blaine County School District #61

Executive Summary Continued

6

Listening TourBlaine County School District #61

Review of Listening Tour

7

Listening Tour Blaine County School District #61

Business Community PatronFaith Leader

Government Nonprofit Parent

BCSD Administrator BCSD Elementary Staff BCSD Secondary Staff

BCSD Support Staff High School Student

The Listening Tour began on July 2 and the last session was held on October 28, 2014. During this time, district stakeholders were offered opportunities to participate in one-on-one and/or small group listening sessions with the superintendent. Stakeholders were also able to respond to an online survey to share their viewpoints with the superintendent. It is important to note that information was provided by individuals and groups that elected to participate in the Listening Tour and not through a random survey method. One hundred sixteen face-to-face Listening Tour sessions (one-on-one and small group) were held and 279 individuals provided information through the online survey. The small group sessions were best attended by district staff. Parent sessions were lightly attended with the exception of a parent session which was held in Spanish; over 50 individuals participated. A session with senior citizens was also well attended. Listening sessions were also held at each high school with student leaders. A listening protocol of six questions was used to ensure consistent information was collected through the tour.

Responses to each question were captured and entered into a spreadsheet. In addition, the demographic group of the respondents was noted for use in analyzing the data. The demographic groups for the purposes of collecting information included:

The only notable differences in responses were between the two larger groups of patrons and BCSD staff. Responses to each question were reviewed multiple times for common themes. Each piece of information received was tagged with a theme or multiple themes if the information captured was more extensive and contained more than one theme. The findings from this analysis are included below.

What do I, as BCSD Superintendent, need to know about the Blaine County community?

What do I, as BCSD Superintendent, need to know about (name of participants organization, school, etc.)?

What do you value about BCSD?

What could BCSD do that would delight you?

How do you stay informed on what is happening in BCSD or how would you like to be informed?

What else do you want me to know?

1

2

3

4

5

6

The six questions were:

The demographic groups for the purposes of collecting information included:

8

There were 482 individual data points recorded from this question. Those themes mentioned 24 (5%) or more times are listed below, from those most frequently mentioned to the least.

Listening Protocol Question 1:1

THEME: WHAT THE SUPERINTENDENT SHOULD KNOW

NUMBER OF TIMES HEARD

DIVERSITY: THE COUNTY IS DIVERSE IN SOCIOECONOMIC, BELIEFS, ETHNICITY, EDUCATION LEVELS, PARENTING STYLES, OCCUPATIONS. 76

HIGH EXPECTATIONS: THE COUNTY HOLDS HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR SCHOOLS AND FOR YOUTH. 63

LIFESTYLE: PEOPLE CHOOSE TO LIVE IN BLAINE COUNTY FOR THE LIFESTYLE. 58

LACK OF TRUST IN DISTRICT: DISTRICT DECISIONS ARE MADE BASED ON A VOCAL MINORITY IN THE COMMUNITY AND THERE IS A LACK OF TRANSPARENCY IN HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE.

58

CARING: THIS IS A CARING COMMUNITY THAT HAS MANY PARTNERSHIPS AND HELPS EACH OTHER IN TIME OF NEED. 40

SUBSTANCE ABUSE: THE USE OF ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES IS A PROBLEM AMONG YOUTH IN OUR COUNTY. 29

DIVERSITY AMONG COMMUNITIES: BELLEVUE, CAREY, HAILEY, KETCHUM AND SUN VALLEY ARE ALL VERY DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES. 26

What do I (superintendent) need to know about the Blaine County community?

9

Despite the diversity in the community, there is a widespread sense of high expectations for our youth and the services provided by the school district. It is a small school district and the patrons expect a wide variety of programming. Patrons noted with comments that Blaine County is a:

Also frequently expressed is a lack of trust in the district and in the way decisions are made. Many of the Listening Tour participants indicated that they perceive decisions are made based on a loud minority, which does not represent the position of the majority. They are able to do this because they have the time to make their wishes well known to district leadership.

This sense of a vocal minority controlling the decisions of the district contrasts with the perception by participants that Blaine County is a very caring community. A good summary of this belief is:

“small community that does everything big,” and “Many in the community are educated, progressive, involved, and want a school district that reflects these characteristics.” The high expectations of the community can be summarized as: “We have great expectations for our kids in terms of college and career. With proper support from the school district, we think our kids can go on to do great things and lead productive lives.”

“It is important to know that the school district has become a personal agenda district; one that caters to the squeaky wheels. Thus, we have more special interest programs than ever before!” Information about how decisions are made is inadequate and it is often perceived “that the strong voice of the minority opinion sets the policy for the majority.”

“the absolute sense of caring – the smiles in the street, the conversations in the post office or grocery store, the coming together when tragedy strikes.”

The most common theme that participants want the new superintendent to know is that Blaine County is a very diverse place. It is diverse in ethnicity, financially, in educational levels, parenting styles, family structures, politics, faith and beliefs, and in occupations. One participant’s comment on the diversity in Blaine County nicely summarized the statements of many of the participants:

“This community has a little bit of everything…cowboys, farmers, tech companies, hunters, skiers, movie stars, avid outdoors people to name a few. This makes us unique and sometimes difficult to please.” Another statement on diversity that represents many of the comments was: “It is a community that is divided by the wealthy and those with a little less. It is a community that has hard working people that overall have a college education and value learning. We have a new diversity developing of families that are not educated and have new needs that include our Hispanic population [sic].”

10

Listening Protocol Question 2:

Listening Protocol Question 3:

2

3

What do I, as BCSD Superintendent, need to know about (name of participants organization, school, etc.)?

What do you value about BCSD?

This question allowed participants to share with the new superintendent their perceptions of the particular group they represented such as, an individual school, a non-profit organization, business, governmental agency, etc. This resulted in small data collections for a multitude of organizations. This data was not examined for themes due to the small number of data points per organization, but did provide the new superintendent with a great deal of information on a large number of entities within the district and the county.

There were 550 individual data points recorded from this question. Two hundred fifty-eight data points were from BCSD staff members and 292 from district patrons. Those themes mentioned 25 (5%) or more times are listed below, from those most frequently mentioned to the least.

THEMEVALUED DISTRICT TRAITS

TOTAL # MENTIONED BY STAFF

TOTAL # MENTIONED BY PATRONS

TOTAL NUMBER OF TIMES HEARD

SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF: THEY ARE HARD- WORKING, SKILLED, WELL EDUCATED. 66 80 146

PROGRAMMING: THE RANGE OF PROGRAMMING IN BCSD IS IMPRESSIVE. 32 82 114

HIGH EXPECTATIONS: THE COMMUNITY HAS HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF. 29 47 76

RESOURCES: THE DISTRICT IS WELL RESOURCED IN MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, TECHNOLOGY AND PERSONNEL.

32 20 52

PARTNERSHIPS: THE DISTRICT HAS MULTIPLE PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND PARENTS THAT ARE VALUED.

11 28 39

CLASS SIZE: SMALL CLASS SIZES ARE APPRECIATED. 20 10 30

FACILITIES: THE COMMUNITY IS PROUD OF THE DISTRICT’S FACILITIES. 14 11 25

PROGRESSIVE: THE DISTRICT IS SEEN AS WORKING TO CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE. 13 12 25

11

Patrons and district staff recognize employees of Blaine County School District as “highly educated and skilled” and perceive the district to have “high-quality teachers.” The participants view staff as hard working and staff noted that fellow staff members are caring and work together as a team.

The wide-range of programming offered in the school district was also noted and appreciated by both staff and patrons alike. Comments included: “small district with the programming of a large district” and “the opportunities students receive is unbelievable and compares to that of a major city community.”

As previously noted, the community values high expectations for the schools. One patron stated it this way: “high level of expectations; private school education at a public school rate.” In addition, the amount of resources provided to the schools, both through district funding and through partnerships, is noted. One staff member summarized many of the comments as, “I am grateful for the district’s effective management of finances that allows for a comfortable salary, beautiful facilities and abundant resources in technology and programs.” A patron summarized school district partnerships across the community by saying: “the district is touchstone for the entire community. It touches the lives of every member of the community through the children and youth.”

Further analysis was conducted on responses tagged with a ‘program’ theme to determine if specific programs rose above others, as valued by staff and district patrons. This analysis resulted in very small numbers and must be further investigated before being used for decision-making. Results to evaluate further included:

PROGRAM/THEME # OF TIMES MENTIONED BY STAFF

# OF TIMES MENTIONED BY PATRONS TOTAL

HIGH QUALITY/LARGE CHOICE OF PROGRAMS 15 33 48

ARTS (PERFORMING AND VISUAL) 2 15 17

DUAL IMMERSION 4 10 14

SPORTS/PE 0 10 10

SPECIAL NEEDS 3 2 5

GIFTED 0 5 5

INTERVENTIONS 0 4 4

EXTRA CURRICULAR 0 4 4

MYP/IB 2 2 4

ADVANCED PLACEMENT 0 4 4

The following programs were also mentioned at least once: dual credit, PreK, all-day Kindergarten, IDLA (Idaho Distance Learning Academy), honors, foreign language, ski week, Voice I and II, Leader in Me, English Language Development, debate, college counseling, mindfulness, outdoor education, technology education, health, and community service.

• Staff• Wide Array of Programs• High Expectations• Resources

BCSD Strengths:

12


What could BCSD do that would delight you?There were 600 individual data points recorded for this question. Two hundred seventy-one data points were from BCSD staff members and 329 from district patrons. Those themes mentioned 30 (5%) or more times are listed below, from those most frequently mentioned to the least.

THEMEDISTRICT AREAS FOR DELIGHTING THE COMMUNITY TOTAL # MENTIONED

BY STAFF TOTAL # MENTIONED

BY PATRONSTOTAL NUMBER OF

TIMES HEARD

PROGRAMS 30 87 117

DISTRICT TRUST AND RELATIONSHIPS: IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY IN COMMUNICATION. DO NOT BE DRIVEN BY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, BUT RECOGNIZE THE VOICES OF ALL.

63 30 93

FOCUS: THE DISTRICT’S CURRENT LACK OF FOCUS OR TOO MANY FOCI. 44 5 49

CLOSE THE GAP/PERSONALIZE EDUCATION: ENSURING ALL STUDENTS ARE MAKING HIGH GAINS AT ALL POINTS ON THE LEARNING SPECTRUM.

11 34 45

PARTNERSHIPS: THE COMMUNITY VALUES CONTINUING OR INCREASING PARTNERSHIPS WITH VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.

1 37 38

INCREASE RESOURCES/ADD STAFF: A WIDE VARIETY OF PROGRAMS WOULD APPRECIATE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/PERSONNEL.

23 9 32

COMPENSATION: SOME EMPLOYEES WOULD LIKE INCREASED COMPENSATION. 28 1 29

There is a desire for more active, authentic, and collaborative instructional models or methods. Students in particular want authentic, meaningful, and collaborative learning opportunities.

While programming in the district is one of the most frequently mentioned values in the school district, programming is also one of the most frequently mentioned areas for improvement. Project Based Learning and/or authentic learning was most frequently mentioned, for a total of 12 times, followed by a focus on outdoor education mentioned 8 times. When combining all programming types

that are instructional methods based on active, authentic and collaborative learning, the total is 39. The next most mentioned programming areas for improvement include foreign or world languages and career and technical education. Suggestions for world language included: provide language instruction early on for all students, increase the number of languages offered, and improve current secondary programming. Suggestions for career and technical education classes include culinary arts, home economics, mechanics, wood shop, metals, construction, and generic vocational education.

13

District trust and relationship comments focused on improving communication regarding decision-making; decisions should not be made solely on the basis of special interest groups. One staff member summarized these feelings by saying: “establish calmer and less reactive relationships with community special interests.” A patron captured this sentiment with the following statement: “stop catering to the few elite who have nothing else to do but complain and foster their own agendas.”

Comments around the district’s need to provide a clearer focus centered on the wide array of initiatives and programs currently used in the district, along with the rapid adoption of programs over the past several years. One staff member expressed this by saying the district needs to “spend time getting to know and use the tools we currently have and not adopt a new program in the future.” There were frequent expressions of the need for the district to set goals and provide clarity around these goals.

There was also frequent mention of the necessity to meet each student’s needs in an increasingly diverse student population, especially for students learning English and for gifted students. However, a staff member cautioned: “The school district is tracking more children. It is important for classrooms to be diverse. Teachers need to use best practices so that all children’s abilities can be met.”

Some staff expressed a need to improve compensation. Specifics cited include 12 mentions to eliminate the separate Certified Salary Schedule (A vs. B), 8 people mentioned improving classified salaries, and 9 participants mentioned improving benefits. Benefits mentioned for improvement include matching 401k plans (for classified staff), providing free PreK for children of staff, providing clothing allowance for classified staff, allowing job-sharing, and improving health insurance for non-traditional families.

This question provided information to the superintendent and her staff on how to improve district and superintendent communication with internal and external stakeholders. It will be discussed when the superintendent’s communication plan is outlined on page 57.

The vast majority of the responses to question six were around individual concerns. Sixteen percent of the responses continued with previously mentioned themes of building trust and listening to all voices, not solely select voices or the loudest voices. A significant number of the responses also extended a warm welcome to the new superintendent and expressed appreciation for the Listening Tour. The welcoming comments are greatly appreciated.


How do you stay informed on what is happening in BCSD or how would you like to be informed?


What else do you want me to know?

14

Review of Student DataStudent Demographics, Enrollment and Assessment


Review of Student Data Student Demographics

15

BCSD ENROLLMENT

SCHOOL YEAR TOTAL

1995-1996 2,852

1996-1997 2,824

1997-1998 2,862

1998-1999 2,836

1999-2000 3,024

2000-2001 3,012

2001-2002 3,053

2002-2003 3,103

2003-2004 3,155

2004-2005 3,193

2005-2006 3,243

2006-2007 3,175

2007-2008 3,235

2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011 3,417

2011-2012 3,495

2012-2013 3,419

2013-2014 3,437

2014-2015 3,419

BCSD ENROLLMENT

% WHITE % HISPANIC

2000-2001 86 13

2001-2002 83 15

2002-2003 83 15

2003-2004 79 20

2004-2005 77 21

2005-2006 76 23

2006-2007 75 24

2007-2008 69 30

2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011 64 34

2011-2012 64 34

2012-2013 62 36

2013-2014 60 38

2014-2015 59 39

Blaine County School District’s enrollment increased steadily from 1995-1996 through school year 2011-2012. It has remained fairly consistent since that time. BCSD currently reports students in the following ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Hawaiian Pacific, and Asian Pacific. The White and Hispanic groups represent the vast majority with each of the other groups representing 1% or less each of the total enrollment. Over this time period the percent of enrolled White students has decreased as the percent of Hispanic students has increased. This mirrors a trend in the community. Census data from 2000 American FactFinder (http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml ) indicates that approximately 90% of the county residents listed themselves as white and 10% as Hispanic. In 2013 the U.S. Census Bureau lists the population of Blaine County as 78% White and 20% Hispanic. However at the same time the number of family households in the county has increased from 4,841 in 2000 to 5,575 in 2010.

EnrollmentBlaine County School District #61

16

• The percentage of Hispanic students is increasing and the percentage of White students is decreasing.

• Hispanic students are under-represented in the district’s GATE program.

The charts below include the enrollment in Blaine County Schools as of October 28, 2014, the number and percentage of students identified for services from the Special Education program or the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program. Red coded cells under special education services indicate that the number of students identified for these services is higher than the percentage of total students represented by the ethnic group. Red coded cells under GATE services

indicate that the number of students identified for these services is lower than the percentage of total students represented by the ethnic group.

ELEMENTARY ENROLLMENT - OCTOBER 28, 2014

GRAD

E

TOTA

L ST

UDEN

TS

# OF

WHI

TE

# OF

HIS

PANI

C

TOTA

L CL

ASS

SECT

IONS

TOTA

L LE

P ST

UDEN

TS

TOTA

L IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

# OF

WHI

TE IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

WHI

TE %

OF

TOTA

L IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

# OF

HIS

PANI

C IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

HISP

ANIC

% O

F IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

TOTA

L GA

TE S

TUDE

NTS

# OF

WHI

TE G

ATE

STUD

ENTS

WHI

TE %

OF

TOTA

L GA

TE

STUD

ENTS

# OF

HIS

PANI

C GA

TE

STUD

ENTS

HISP

ANIC

% O

F TO

TAL

GATE

ST

UDEN

TS

PreK 109 37 68 7 0 11 5 45.5 6 54.5 0 0 0.0 0 0

K 238 125 109 13 80 3 0 0.0 3 100.0 0 0 0.0 0 0

1 254 150 98 15 61 17 12 70.6 4 23.5 1 1 100.0 0 0

2 272 155 111 15 73 15 8 53.3 7 46.7 6 6 100.0 0 0

3 244 137 104 14 43 24 13 54.2 10 41.7 14 14 100.0 0 0

4 281 164 110 15 58 32 19 59.4 12 37.5 13 12 92.3 0 0

5 237 143 91 15 22 29 13 44.8 15 51.7 17 13 76.5 3 17.6

Total 1635 911 691 94 337 131 70 53.4 57 43.5 51 46 90.2 3 5.9

17

SECONDARY ENROLLMENT - OCTOBER 28, 2014GR

ADE

TOTA

L ST

UDEN

TS

# OF

WHI

TE

# OF

HIS

PANI

C

TOTA

L LE

P ST

UDEN

TS

TOTA

L IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

# OF

WHI

TE IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

WHI

TE %

OF

TOTA

L IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

# OF

HIS

PANI

C IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

HISP

ANIC

% O

F IE

P ST

UDEN

TS

TOTA

L GA

TE S

TUDE

NTS

# OF

WHI

TE G

ATE

STUD

ENTS

WHI

TE %

OF

TOTA

L GA

TE

STUD

ENTS

# OF

HIS

PANI

C GA

TE

STUD

ENTS

HISP

ANIC

% O

F TO

TAL

GATE

ST

UDEN

TS

6 250 163 84 19 38 25 65.8 13 34.2 18 17 94.4 1 5.6

7 289 164 116 28 48 23 47.9 23 47.9 25 23 92.0 2 8.0

8 236 132 102 11 29 19 65.5 10 34.5 18 16 88.9 2 11.1

9 245 147 92 19 26 11 42.3 14 53.8 12 11 91.7 0 0.0

10 249 159 87 16 16 5 31.3 11 68.8 19 18 94.7 1 5.3

11 214 136 75 9 18 12 66.7 6 33.3 14 12 85.7 1 7.1

12 201 140 56 3 18 13 72.2 5 27.8 19 15 78.9 3 15.8

18

District Expectations/Accountability Blaine County School District #61

As a part of the latest Strategic Plan, Blaine County School District identified a 21st Century Learner Profile mirrored with a 21st Century Educator Profile. This profile makes explicit the types of academic behaviors the district expects for its students. However, ways of measuring these 21st Century skills are still unclear. Elementary teachers are learning to use rubrics to measure some of these skills through Project Based Learning. Secondary teachers involved in International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme are learning to use similar rubrics for measuring similar 21st Century skills. In addition, current grade book applications and grade cards do not support the collection and reporting of rubric data on 21st Century skills. The use of rubrics to measure 21st Century learning skills is in an emerging state across in the district.

Currently the District does not have good measures of student mastery of 21st Century skills.

19

Federal and State AccountabilityBlaine County School District #61

Blaine County Schools are monitored under several different accountability systems. The Federal monitoring system includes meeting targets for all students and for each subgroup (of 34 students or more) for participation rate and proficiency on state assessment in reading, mathematics, and language for students in grades 3 to 8 and at the high school level meeting targets in reading and mathematics (grade 10) and graduation rate. The subgroups include: economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, limited English proficient (LEP) students, and the ethnic groups of American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Black/African American, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, White, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity.

The state monitoring system, the Idaho Five- Star rating system, includes participation rate and proficiency on the same measures as the federal accountability system, but also measures academic growth by determining how much progress students made over the past school year for elementary and middle schools. At the high school level, postsecondary and career readiness metrics are added which include the number of students successfully completing advanced courses and student scores on college entrance exams.

Both of these accountability systems are based on Idaho Standards of Achievement Test (ISAT) results from the spring of 2013 which was the last administration of the state assessment for which school and district data were reported. New ISAT 2 assessments created by the Smarter Balanced Consortium are in development and were field-tested in the spring of 2014. Since this was a field test and cut points were not established for this administration, there will be no school or district data reported for the assessment . The assessment (ISAT 2) will be administered for the second time in the spring of

2015 at which time school and district data will be reported. It is important to note that these tests will be much different than the previous tests and assess higher level thinking skills. It is anticipated that proficiency rates will drop for the first couple of years as educators learn how to adjust instruction to support students learning the higher standards from the Idaho Core Standards.

Summary data from the 2012 and 2013 ISAT scores is included below for BCSD as a whole and for individual schools. Each target missed by the district or school is coded red. Each target achieved is coded green. Detailed data by specific grade levels can be found at http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/reportCard/ It is important to note that the target percent proficient varies from subgroup to subgroup and these tests are to determine student mastery of Idaho standards which are the minimum learning expectations for students. If these assessments represent the minimum, ultimately the district should be working towards ensuring all students in all subgroups are proficient.

Idaho Standard Achievement Test (ISAT)

In 2012 and 2013 the district and schools missed • 26% of Language Targets • 17% of Math Targets • 26% of Reading TargetsOn state and accountability measures.

20

BLAINE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT – ISAT LANGUAGE

SPRING 2012 SPRING 2013

SUB-GROUP TARGET % %ADV/PROF TARGET % %ADV/PROF

ALL STUDENTS 77.5 82.4 79.6 80.1

HISPANIC 62.1 68.3 65.6 62.6

WHITE 80.8 90.4 82.6 89.9

LEP 33.2 56.6 39.3 44.9

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 69 70.5 71.8 67.6

STUDENTS W/ DISABILITIES 35.3 42.7 41.2 34.5

BLAINE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT – ISAT MATH



ALL STUDENTS 84.4 85.2 84.1 85.6

HISPANIC 70 74.2 7208 75.4

WHITE 85.2 91.5 86.6 91.7

LEP 46.5 66.5 51.3 64.7

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 75.7 75 77.9 77


BLAINE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 92.4 90.5 91.7

HISPANIC 79.9 84.7 81.8 82.7

WHITE 91.8 96.6 92.5 96.7

LEP 54.4 79.1 58.5 71.5

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 84.8 86.5 86.2 84.9


21

ALTURAS – ISAT LANGUAGE



ALL STUDENTS 77.5 69.4 79.6 55.8

HISPANIC 62.1 65.7 65.6 53.1

WHITE 80.8 78 82.6 63.4

LEP 33.2 60.2 39.3 47.9


STUDENTS W/ DISABILITIES NA NA 41.2 26.7

ALTURAS – ISAT MATH



ALL STUDENTS 82.4 73.1 84.1 74.6

HISPANIC 70 70.4 72.8 74

WHITE 85.2 80 86.6 78

LEP 46.5 69.9 51.3 71.8



ALTURAS – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 79.2 90.5 76.8

HISPANIC 79.9 76.9 81.8 76

WHITE 91.8 83.7 92.5 78

LEP 54.4 77.1 58.5 71.8



22

BELLEVUE – ISAT LANGUAGE



ALL STUDENTS 77.5 79.6 79.6 80

HISPANIC NA NA NA NA

WHITE 80.8 84.4 82.6 85.5

LEP NA NA NA NA


STUDENTS W/ DISABILITIES NA NA NA NA

BELLEVUE – ISAT MATH



ALL STUDENTS 82.4 85.7 84.1 88.2


WHITE 85.2 87.5 86.6 89.1

LEP NA NA NA NA

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 75.7 77.8 77.9 83


BELLEVUE – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 85.7 90.5 84.7


WHITE 91.8 90.6 92.5 92.7

LEP NA NA NA NA



23

HAILEY – ISAT LANGUAGE



ALL STUDENTS 77.5 86.5 79.6 84.5

HISPANIC 62.1 72.9 65.6 64.9

WHITE 80.8 90.8 82.6 93.4

LEP 33.2 67.9 39.3 58.5



HAILEY – ISAT MATH



ALL STUDENTS 82.4 92.3 84.1 90.5

HISPANIC 70 84.7 72.8 76.6

WHITE 85.2 95.4 86.6 96.4

LEP 46.5 81.1 51.3 72.3



HAILEY – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 93.5 90.5 92.9

HISPANIC 79.9 84.7 81.8 83.1

WHITE 91.8 96.4 92.5 97.5

LEP 54.4 81.1 58.5 78.5

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 84.8 86 86.2 85.1


24

HEMINGWAY – ISAT LANGUAGE



ALL STUDENTS 77.5 83.3 79.6 82.5

HISPANIC 62.1 63.5 65.6 61.8

WHITE 80.8 95.3 82.6 90.2

LEP 33.2 60.3 NA NA



HEMINGWAY – ISAT MATH



ALL STUDENTS 82.4 87.2 84.1 87

HISPANIC 70 68.3 72.8 70.9

WHITE 85.2 96.1 86.6 93.2

LEP 46.5 69.8 NA NA



HEMINGWAY – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 90.1 90.5 90.5

HISPANIC 79.9 74.6 81.8 70.9

WHITE 91.8 96.9 92.5 97.7

LEP 54.4 73 NA NA



25

CAREY – ISAT LANGUAGE



ALL STUDENTS 77.5 82.2 79.6 80.6

HISPANIC NA NA 65.6 69.7

WHITE 80.8 82.8 82.6 83.7

LEP NA NA NA NA

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 69 83.3 71.8 73


CAREY – ISATMATH



ALL STUDENTS 82.4 86 84.1 82.8


WHITE 85.2 86 86.6 82.7

LEP NA NA NA NA



CAREY – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 93.8 90.5 92.5


WHITE 91.8 95.7 92.5 93.9

LEP NA NA NA NA

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 84.8 95 86.2 90.5


26

WOOD RIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL – ISAT LANGUAGE



ALL STUDENTS 77.5 82.4 79.6 80.8

HISPANIC 62.1 66.4 65.6 63.3

WHITE 80.8 91.8 82.6 92.6

LEP 33.2 51.1 39.3 42.7

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 69 68 71.8 67.4


WOOD RIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL – ISAT MATH



ALL STUDENTS 82.4 84.5 84.1 85.2

HISPANIC 70 73 72.8 75.3

WHITE 85.2 91.5 86.6 92.9

LEP 46.5 61.5 51.3 61.8



WOOD RIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 97 90.5 94.6

HISPANIC 79.9 93.3 81.8 88.8

WHITE 91.8 99.5 92.5 98.4

LEP 54.4 88.1 58.5 80.2



27

WOOD RIVER HIGH SCHOOL – ISAT LANGUAGE



ALL STUDENTS 77.5 89.1 79.6 86.3

HISPANIC 62.1 74 65.6 70

WHITE 80.8 95.7 82.6 91.6

LEP NA NA NA NA



WOOD RIVER HIGH SCHOOL – ISAT MATH



ALL STUDENTS 82.4 85 84.1 87.6

HISPANIC 70 70 72.8 72.5

WHITE 85.2 92.2 86.6 92.5

LEP NA NA NA NA



WOOD RIVER HIGH SCHOOL – ISAT READING



ALL STUDENTS 89.6 90.8 90.5 95.3

HISPANIC 79.9 78 81.8 82.5

WHITE 91.8 96.6 92.5 100

LEP NA NA NA NA



28

GRADUATION RATES 2012-2013 (APPEAL PERIOD IS CLOSED)*

NAME ALL AM. IN-DIAN ASIAN AFRICAN

AM. HAWAIIAN WHITE HISPANIC MULTI-RA-CIAL

EC. DIS-ADV. DISABLED LEP

BLAI

NE C

OUNT

Y DI

STRI

CT

95.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% - 95.7% 94.4% 75.0% 91.9% 87.5% 92.5%

NAME ALL AM. IN-DIAN ASIAN AFRICAN

AM. HAWAIIAN WHITE HISPANIC MULTI-RA-CIAL

EC. DIS-ADV. DISABLED LEP

WOO

D RI

VER

HIGH

SCH

OOL

95.9% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% - 95.8% 95.7% 100.0% 93.2% 81.8% 94.3%

CARE

Y PU

BLIC

SC

HOOL

100.0% - - - - 100.0% 100.0% - 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

SILV

ER C

REEK

HI

GH S

CHOO

L

81.3% - - - - 90.0% 75.0% 50.0% 75.0% 100.0% 50.0%

* THESE RATES HAVE NOT BEEN DECLARED OFFICIAL BUT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FINAL BECAUSE THE APPEAL WINDOW HAS CLOSED.

Graduation Rate: Moving to a New Reporting SystemThe State of Idaho is moving to the common four-year adjusted graduation rate that the U.S. State Department of Education initiated in 2011-12. According to the State Department of Education, “while the new measure is not comparable to previously reported rates, it provides a more accurate snapshot of high school graduation . . . .” The new preliminary graduation rate calculation is expected within the next few weeks and should be added as an addendum to this report for future reference. The official rate will be posted on the state department website at the beginning of January.

29

Other Measures of Academic Outcomes: Blaine County School District #61

Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI)

The IRI is a screening assessment given to Idaho students in grades K to 3 in the spring and fall. Data is reported to the Idaho Department of Education, as required by Statute 33-1614. The assessment identifies at-risk students without skills that are prerequisite for becoming successful readers. The assessment allows school personnel to provide the necessary interventions to improve student outcomes. The assessment measures skills needed for beginning reading at each grade level:

Kindergarten

• Kindergarten: Letter Naming and Sound Fluency• First Grade: Letter Sound Fluency and Reading Fluency • Second Grade: Reading Fluency• Third Grade: Reading Fluency

• Hispanic students make larger gains throughout the year, but still end the year with fewer students at benchmark.

• During the 2013-14 school year, Hemingway and Alturas schools moved significantly more students to benchmark than in the previous two years.

• Over the past three years, Bellevue has consistently moved more Hispanic students to benchmark. • Carey showed strong growth during the past two years with all students. • Spring scores for both groups show improvement, however, there are still a number of students not at

benchmark.

First Grade

• Most first grade data generally show small gains, or no gains at all, in students reaching benchmark from fall to spring.

• In the past two years, Bellevue has increased the number of Hispanic students making benchmark.

30

The data is displayed below in both graph and table format for kindergarten and first grade at each elementary school. These are the grade levels for which no other reading scores are available. Cells which represent a loss in the number of students meeting the benchmark are coded in red. Cells which represent large gains in students meeting benchmarks are colored in green. Cells not highlighted represent no significant change.

KDGN ALL STUDENTS HISPANIC STUDENTS

YEAR FALL SPRING GAIN FALL SPRING GAIN

2011-12 35 60 25 42 75 33

2012-13 40 67 27 21 56 35

2013-14 41 83 42 21 77 56

At Kindergarten 22 out of 30 measures show student growth in pre-reading skills. At first grade 17 out of 30 measures show no student growth in pre-reading skills. At both K and 1 there are numerous students not making the benchmark by the end of the school year for pre-reading skills.

31



2011-12 50 91 41 45 55 10

2012-13 48 76 28 50 67 17

2013-14 58 83 25 25 80 55

32



2011-12 67 58 -9 NA NA NA

2012-13 70 80 10 33 100 77

2013-14 77 100 23 50 100 50

33



2011-12 73 91 18 47 35 -12

2012-13 62 67 5 44 67 23

2013-14 51 65 14 47 55 8

34



2011-12 78 74 -4 50 63 13

2012-13 57 50 -7 32 41 9

2013-14 67 90 23 21 86 65

35

FIRST ALL STUDENTS HISPANIC STUDENTS


2011-12 49 46 -3 40 47 7

2012-13 33 39 6 58 50 -8

2013-14 54 35 -19 42 21 -21

36



2011-12 64 69 5 62 44 -18

2012-13 76 72 -4 30 50 20

2013-14 65 73 8 50 75 25

37



2011-12 60 70 10 50 50 0

2012-13 50 64 14 0 0 0

2013-14 70 47 -23 50 33 -17

38



2011-12 53 66 13 36 43 7

2012-13 51 74 23 24 42 18

2013-14 48 50 2 50 42 -8

39



2011-12 49 59 10 40 37 -3

2012-13 48 56 8 22 18 -4

2013-14 48 50 2 50 42 -8

40

STAR ReadingBlaine County School District #61

STAR Reading: Sixteen of the 26 cells representing the bottom quartile of students for reading achievement have a disproportionate number of students in that cell or reading below the national norm.

The STAR Reading assessment is a very quick assessment (approximately 10 minutes) that is designed to give feedback on student reading comprehension and overall reading achievement. It provides information about a student’s reading level, as well as the percentile rank of each student as compared to other students at the same enrolled grade level at the same time of the year. If a school or district has a normal distribution, about 25% of the students would score above the 75th percentile, 50% between the 74th and 25th percentile and 25% below the 25th percentile. This assessment is given three times a year in the BCSD. It is primarily used as a screening instrument to identify students possibly in need of a reading intervention and as one of multiple data points to assist teachers in determining the level and type of instruction each individual child needs.

The data for the fall of 2014 for grades 2 through 8 is provided below. This is one snapshot of BCSD student achievement in reading that is compared to national data. The column indicating the percent of students performing at or above the 75th percentile is coded blue. Students performing in the average band are indicated with green. The column indicating student performing in the bottom quartile is colored red as students performing at this level are most likely in need of intervention. In addition, if the percentage of students in this bottom quartile is larger than the average expectation of 25%, the cell is also highlighted in red.

ALTURAS – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION

GRADE LEVEL 75TH AND ABOVE 50 TO 74TH 25TH TO 49TH BELOW 25TH

2ND 11.4% 8.9% 22.8% 57%

3RD 10.4% 26.9% 25.4% 37.3%

4TH 16.7% 18.2% 18.2% 47%

5TH 26.2% 13.1% 14.8% 45.9%

BELLEVUE – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 23.1% 10.3% 30.8% 35.9%

3RD 21.9% 18.8% 37.5% 21.9%

4TH 22% 22% 31.7% 24.4%

5TH 21.9% 21.9% 25% 31.3%

41

CAREY – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 9.1% 9.1% 31.8% 50%

3RD 9.1% 18.2% 18.2% 54.5%

4TH 21.1% 15.8% 31.6% 31.6%

5TH 23.5% 29.4% 29.4% 17.6%

6TH 26.3% 15.8% 21.1% 36.8%

7TH 26.3% 31.6% 36.8% 5.3%

8TH 5.3% 10.5% 73.7% 10.5%

HEMINGWAY – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 22% 8.5% 23.7% 45.8%

3RD 27.3% 20.5% 27.3% 25%

4TH 22.2% 33.3% 19% 25.4%

5TH 30.5% 30.5% 15.3% 23.7%

HAILEY – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 15.5% 19.7% 16.9% 47.9%

3RD 23.5% 24.7% 22.4% 29.4%

4TH 20.9% 37.2% 19.8% 22.1%

5TH 24.2% 33.3% 25.8% 16.7%

WOOD RIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


6TH 24.8% 22.1% 21.7% 31.4%

7TH 21.4% 20.2% 27.5% 30.9%

8TH 20.5% 24.2% 26% 29.3%

42

STAR MathBlaine County School District #61

Compared to students nationally, BCSD students perform strongly in math.

The STAR Math test provides a quick (usually 20 minutes) assessment of a students math skills and overall math achievement. It provides information about a student’s math instructional level, as well as the percentile rank of each student compared to other students at the same enrolled grade level and at the same time of the year.

The data for the fall of 2014 for grades 2 to 8 is provided below. This is one snapshot of BCSD student achievement in math that is compared to national data. The column indicating the percent of students performing at or above the 75th percentile is coded blue. Students performing in the average band are indicated with green. The column indicating students performing in the bottom quartile is colored red. Students performing at this level are most likely in need of intervention. In the addition, if the percentage of students in this bottom quartile is larger than the average expectation of 25% the cell is also highlighted in read.

ALTURAS – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 17.7% 22.8% 27.8% 31.6%

3RD 25% 25% 25% 25%

4TH 28.4% 29.9% 19.4% 22.4%

5TH 44.3% 18% 21.3% 16.4%

BELLEVUE – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 15.4% 35.9% 23.1% 25.6%

3RD 21.9% 15.6% 25% 37.5%

4TH 36.6% 26.8% 14.6% 22%

5TH 34.4% 25% 12.5% 28.1%

CAREY – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 33.3% 14.3% 42.9% 9.5%

3RD 9.1% 27.3% 54.5% 9.1%

4TH 25% 40% 15% 20%

5TH 35.3% 35.3% 11.8% 17.6%

6TH 25% 20% 30% 25%

7TH 21.1% 31.6% 42.1% 5.3%

8TH 15.8% 26.3% 52.6% 5.3%

43

HEMINGWAY – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 23% 9.8% 29.5% 37.7%

3RD 42.2% 20% 28.9% 8.9%

4TH 32.8% 28.1% 17.2% 21.9%

5TH 40% 20% 26.7% 13.3%

HAILEY – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


2ND 28.2% 23.9% 19.7% 28.2%

3RD 41.7% 16.7% 17.9% 23.8%

4TH 40% 31.8% 11.8% 16.5%

5TH 24.2% 33.3% 30.3% 12.1%

WOOD RIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL – FALL 2014 – PERCENTILE DISTRIBUTION


6TH 29.1% 23.3% 28.2% 19.4%

7TH 31.5% 23.7% 30% 14.8%

8TH 30.3% 25% 29.8% 14.9%

44

`

Idaho English Language Assessment (IELA)Blaine County School District #61

English Language Acquisition

• When starting at levels 1 and 2, large numbers of English Language Learners (ELL) move up one level or more in a year.

• The number of ELL students moving up one level or more in a year when starting at levels 3 and 4 is limited.

The IELA is given to all students served in a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) program in Idaho in order to meet the federal requirement for assessing the acquisition of English by these students. The IELA is administered annually in the spring and calculates growth in English language proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The scores from each sub-test are compiled and assigned a proficiency level: Beginning – 1; Advanced Beginning -2: Intermediate – 3; Early Fluent – 4; Fluent – 5. Levels 1 to 3 focus primarily on acquiring English for everyday

living. Levels 4 and 5 involve much more academic language as a measure of the assessment.

Data indicating student growth or lack of growth for a cohort of students over a one year period are provided below for two years. In addition, information on the composition of the second cohort is provided below as well. Green cells indicate growth of one or more levels in a year. Yellow cells indicate no growth and red cells indicate a decline.

CHANGE IN IELA SCORES FROM SPRING 2011-12 TO SPRING 2012-13

2012-13 IELA Score 5 - 1 11 69 83

4 - 2 47 86 13

3 4 9 42 14 5

2 6 3 2 - -

1 - - - - -

1 2 3 4 5

2011-12 IELA Score

Year One:

Moving from 1 to a higher level 10/10 or 100%Moving from 2 to a higher level 12/15 or 80%Moving from 3 to a higher level 58/102 or 57%Moving from 4 to a higher level 69/169 or 41%

45

`

CHANGE IN IELA SCORES FROM SPRING 2012-13 TO SPRING 2013-14

2013-14 IELA Score 5 - - 7 38 65

4 2 1 49 90 24

3 4 19 50 21 1

2 1 5 2 - -

1 - - - - -

1 2 3 4 5

2011-12 IELA Score

Year Two:

Moving from 1 to a higher level 7/7 or 100%Moving from 2 to a higher level 20/25 or 80%Moving from 3 to a higher level 56/108 or 52%Moving from 4 to a higher level 38/149 or 26%

46

IELA SCORE CHANGES FOR 3 AND 4S FROM 2012-13 TO 2013-14

3 to 4 or 5 4 to 5

OVERALL 58/108 or 52% 38/149 or 26%

Male 24/56 or 43% 25/83 or 30%

Female 32/52 or 62% 13/66 or 20%

Not in DI 27/50 or 54% 11/63 or 17%

In DI 29/58 or 50% 27/86 or 31%

No Special Education Services 40/74 or 54% 34/124 or 27%

Special Education Services 16/32 or 50% 4/25 or 16%

Elementary 45/83 or 54% 31/90 or 34%

Secondary 11/25 or 44% 7/59 or 12 %

379 students total207 males, 172 females221 in Dual Immersion71 receive special education services268 are elementary, 111 are secondary

English Language Learners in 2012-13 to 2013-14 Cohort

Further analysis of the students in the Year Two cohort is included below.

47

Advanced Placement (AP)/Dual Credit (DC) Classes: Blaine County School District #61

Advanced Courses

• BCSD Students usually outperform the national average on AP assessments.

• Hispanic students are not represented by AP exams at a rate proportionate to their enrollment.

AP classes are one way to meet the needs of students looking for more challenging classes and assist students in preparing for college and career. Students earning a 3, 4, or 5 score on the end-of-course AP exams are considered to have passed the exam and may be awarded college credit at a large number of colleges across the country in addition to satisfying high school credit requirements.

In addition, students may earn college credits through Dual Credit courses. Most of these courses are in collaboration with the College of Southern Idaho (CSI). Students successfully completing these courses earn high school credit and college credit from the sponsoring college or university. These courses are another good option for students looking for a challenge and wanting to prepare for college and career.

While both Carey High School and Wood River High School offer both AP and Dual Credit classes, the data are from Wood River High School. The numbers of students involved in these classes at Carey is small and reporting the data from this school could result in violation of student privacy.

In the spring of 2013 166 WRHS students took 299 AP exams. Last spring 158 students took a total of 274 AP exams. Students taking the exams ranged from grade 9 to 12 with the vast majority of the students in grades 11 and 12. Overall, 75% of the exams were completed successfully in the spring of 2014. This past school year had the largest range of subject area exams taken, a total of 21 different areas. The subjects with the highest number of students participating in exams include are listed below.

The success rate in these different areas varies widely from 100% of the exams passed in Calculus AB to only 51% passed in U.S. History. Overall, WRHS has a higher pass rate than the global rate when examining 2013 data, the latest data set with comparable data. In 2013, WRHS had a higher pass rate or a perfect pass rate in 9 out 12 classes.

U.S. History U.S. Government and Politics Macroeconomics Microeconomics Psychology Calculus AB Statistics

51

A review of the students taking AP classes and exams, in the most heavily enrolled subjects, also provides useful data in identifying areas of strengths and areas for improvement. Currently the district is approximately 33% Hispanic and 65% white. The number of Hispanic students participating in these courses is not proportional to their percent of the student body.

Much less data is currently available on Dual Credit classes. The demographics of the students enrolled in these classes parallel the demographics of BSCD students.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT CLASSES2012-13 2013-14

COURSE WHITE % HISPANIC % WHITE % HISPANIC %CALCULUS 92 0 87 4

STATISTICS 91 4 83 17US GOVERNMENT 100 0 82 7

US History 94 9 83 14

DUAL CREDIT CLASSES2012-13 2013-14

SCHOOL TOTAL STUDENTS WHITE% HISPANIC % TOTAL

STUDENTS WHITE % HISPANIC %

CAREY 28 71.4 28.6 26 65.4 30.8SCHS 3 100 0 10 60 40 WRHS 18 77.8 16.7 83 62.7 33.7

52

SAT/ACT Blaine County School District #61

All Idaho public school students must take a college-placement exam in order to graduate high school. Idaho provides an SAT Day each year in which juniors may take this exam at the state’s expense. Consequently most students in Idaho take the SAT. The SAT provides a recognized indicator of a student’s readiness for college: testing aptitude, reasoning and verbal ability. A perfect score on the SAT is 2400. According to a 2013 College Board report, a 1550 reflects a college-readiness benchmark. Students who score a 1550 or above have a 65% chance of achieving a first-year college GPA of a B-minus or better.

Some students elect to take other college placement exams, including the ACT. The ACT provides a recognized indicator of a student’s readiness for college: testing curriculum-based measures of college readiness including English, math, reading, and science. ACT reports College Readiness Benchmark scores in each of the four curricular areas. A benchmark score is the minimum score needed on a subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher and a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses which include English Composition, Algebra, Social Science, and Biology.

April 16, 2014 was the most recent SAT day in Idaho. A total of 126 Blaine County School District juniors took the test on that day. In addition, 32 seniors took the SAT last year and 44 seniors took the ACT. The majority of the seniors taking the SAT were doing so for the second time and all improved their scores from their previous

attempt. BCSD SAT data for juniors participating in the 2014 SAT day has been analyzed by average mean score in each of the three areas: critical reading, mathematics, and writing. These mean scores have been compared for the past two year to all test takers in the state of Idaho and to test takers in other Idaho districts with a total student enrollment of 2,500 and 4,999 students. SAT score distributions were also examined. BCSD score distribution trends toward the middle and upper quartiles. In addition, the data have been analyzed by the number of students scoring a total of 1,550 or higher as this is the college-readiness benchmark identified for the SAT. These data have been analyzed for both junior and senior SAT test takers in the 2013-14 school year.

College Entrance Exams:

BCSD students score strongly on the SAT and ACT tests.

53

SAT SCORE DISTRIBUTION 2014SCORE RANGE CRITICAL READING TOTAL MATHEMATICS TOTAL WRITING TOTAL

700-800 5 3 4600-690 19 11 11500-590 40 39 48400-490 47 57 56300-390 23 23 15200-290 1 2 1

2013-14 SCHOOL YEAR SAT TEST TAKERS

JUNIORS% OF TOTAL STUDENTS

TAKING SAT

% OF STUDENT SUBGROUP

SCORING ≥ 1550HISPANIC 25% 10%

WHITE 69% 47%OTHER 5% 66%

Male 39% 52%Female 61% 30%

All Students 100% 39%

SENIORS% OF TOTAL STUDENTS

TAKING SAT

% OF STUDENT SUBGROUP

SCORING ≥ 1550HISPANIC 0% NA

WHITE 88% 64%OTHER 12% 50%

Male 41% 77%Female 59% 53%

All Students 100% 63%

COLLEGE COURSE/COURSE AREA ACT TEST BENCHMARK SCORE

ENGLISH COMPOSITION English 18ALGEBRA Mathematics 22

SOCIAL SCIENCES Reading 22Biology Science 23

A small number of seniors take the ACT test each year. Data for the past five years has been analyzed for the average ACT scores in English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science as well as the Composite Score. In addition, the number of students making the benchmark in each of these areas was also analyzed. A benchmark score is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a good chance of making a passing grade in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses.

54

2014 ACT AVERAGE SCORES BY GENDER

PERCENT OF TEST TAKERS

ENGLISH AVERAGE

ACT SCORE

MATHEMATICS AVERAGE ACT

SCORE

READING AVERAGE ACT

SCORE

SCIENCE AVERAGE

ACT SCORECOMPOSITE

Group M F M F M F M F M F M F

BCSD 39 61 24.9 23.4 23.8 23.1 25.1 25.9 24.9 23.6 24.8 24.3

Idaho 44 56 21.8 21.9 22.9 21.2 23.1 23.0 22.9 21.4 22.8 22.0

55

Secondary Intervention ClassesBlaine County School District #61

The demographics of two intervention classes were examined to determine who are the students in these classes and are they new to BCSD or have they attended school in the district for a number of years. Read 180 was examined at the middle school level and Algebra intervention classes were examined at the high school level.

Read 180 is a reading intervention program offered to students in the middle school who are reading below grade level, but do not have profound reading difficulties. The current enrollment of sixth grade students in this class provides insight into the students who are in need of this intervention.

Algebra Intervention classes are for students who still lack basic algebraic principles and need additional support in math. In this class students spend two years completing the basic Algebra I class that is normally a year-long class.

SIXTH GRADE READ 180 STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS AT WRMS

TOTA

L EN

ROLL

MEN

T

TOTA

L W

HITE

STUD

ENTS

# OF

WHI

TE

STUD

ENTS

W

ITH

IEPS

# OF

WHI

TE

STUD

ENTS

IN

BCS

D FO

R 4+

YE

ARS

TOTA

L HI

SPAN

IC S

TUDE

NTS

# OF

HIS

PANI

C S

TUDE

NTS

WIT

H IE

PS

# OF

HIS

PANI

C ST

UDEN

TS IN

BC

SD F

OR 4

+ Y

EARS

TOTA

L EL

L S

TUDE

NTS

# OF

ELL

STU

DENT

S IN

BCS

D FO

R 4+

YE

ARS

32 11 8 7 20 4 18 17 16

ALGEBRA INTERVENTION CLASSES STUDENT DEMOGRAPHIC AT WRHS

TOTA

L EN

ROLL

MEN

T

TOTA

L W

HITE

STUD

ENTS

# OF

WHI

TE

STUD

ENTS

IN

BCS

D FO

R 4+

YE

ARS

TOTA

L HI

SPAN

IC S

TUDE

NTS

# OF

HIS

PANI

C ST

UDEN

TS IN

BC

SD F

OR 4

+ Y

EARS

TOTA

L EL

L S

TUDE

NTS

# OF

ELL

STU

DENT

S IN

BCS

D FO

R 4+

YE

ARS

102 34 25 67 56 56 49

56

Suspensions from School

Student Data Conclusion


Suspension data were also examined as access to instruction is another factor in student outcomes. The table below shows the number of suspensions for each school and the number of students represented by these suspensions and the percentage of students represented by the two primary ethnic groups in BCSD: White and Hispanic. The cells shaded red represent when the percentage of a subgroup of students suspended is higher than that subgroup’s percentage of the overall student population.

Overall, BCSD students perform quite well, especially when comparing their performance on end-of-school measures such as SAT/ACT and AP and Dual Credit classes. However, as described by one of the districts leaders, Hispanic students are under-represented in meeting targets and advanced opportunities and over represented in remedial or intervention programs. The challenge for BCSD is to continue to improve so that all students reach the highest levels of achievement. A Spanish speaking parent summed it up by saying, ‘For the Latinos their education is very important and they want their children to receive the same opportunities of the other groups of students.

SCHO

OL

TOTA

L ST

UDEN

TS20

13- 1

4

# OF

SUS

PENS

IONS

# OF

WHI

TE

STUD

ENT

SUSP

ENSI

ONS/

PERC

ENT

# OF

HIS

PANI

C ST

UDEN

TS

SUSP

ENSI

ONS/

PE

RCEN

T

TOTA

L ST

UDEN

TS20

12- 1

3

# OF

SUS

PENS

IONS

#OF

WHI

TE

STUD

ENTS

SU

SPEN

SION

S/

PERC

ENT

# OF

HIS

PANI

C ST

UDEN

TS

SUSP

ENSI

ONS/

PE

RCEN

T

Carey 240 0 0 0 264 3 3/100% 0

SCHS 40 9 6/66% 3/33% 40 6 5/83% 1/16%

WRHS 739 17 5/29% 12/71% 751 12 7/58% 5/42%

WRMS 701 36 27/75% 9/25% 668 23 20/87% 3/13%

Summary:

A los latinos nos importa nuestra educación, queremos que nuestros hijo tengan éxito y que reciban las mismas oportunidades que otros grupos. – BCSD Parent

BCSD students perform well in math. Students perform well in advanced course work.Students perform well on college entrance exams.Some students are struggling in reading and language.

57

District Finances andFinancial Systems Blaine County School District #61

Review of District Financesand Financial Systems

58

Review of District Finances and Financial SystemsBlaine County School District #61

The district has a yearly audit resulting in a comprehensive annual financial report as required by the State of Idaho. The audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 was conducted by Jones, Yost, Hatt, and Erickson P.A., Certified Public Accountants. The audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014 was conducted by Dennis Brown Certified Public Accountant. Both audits did not identify any deficiencies in internal controls. Both audits, by two different firms, determined that the district’s financial statements are a fair representation of the district’s financial position.

The district’s budgeted expenses in the General Fund over the past several years have been in excess of revenues resulting in a reduction of fund balance over time. This use of and reduction of the fund balance is a part of the Board’s direction to reduce the fund balance to approximately 9% of the total budget. It is anticipated that the fund balance will continue to support anticipated budgeted expenses in the General Fund for the next two years, with a need for additional levies coming to a vote in spring 2016 or a significant reduction in programs and/or services to reduce the General Fund budget accordingly in school year 2017-18. The availability and intentional use of this fund balance during the economic downturn was a significant factor in protecting Blaine County schools from the major impacts seen in the majority of school districts across the country.

In addition to the yearly audit, extensive monthly financial reports are provided to the Board and posted on the public website. These reports include revenues, expenses, updates of individual accounts, and a list of all checks to be issued for that month. Only checks for staff reimbursement are issued before Board review. After approval of the monthly financial report by the Board of Trustees, the rest of the checks on the monthly report are issued. The checks carry the signature of both the Business Manager and the Board Chair. district contracts with service providers and vendors are posted on the Finance pages of the district website. This has been expanded this year to also include Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs). The District is currently in the process of establishing MOUs with its partners in which funds or other in-kind services (facilities, transportation, etc.) are provided. These MOUs will clarify what district resources, if any, are supporting these district partnerships, what is the scope of collaboration, responsibilities for confidentiality, and ensure partners have the appropriate insurance.

The superintendent reviewed district procurement procedures to ensure they were in compliance with Idaho procurement requirements as delineated in Idaho Statutes, Title 67, Chapter 57. While no violations of procurement procedures were found, it was learned that many district employees not engaged in purchasing at the school or district level, trustees, and community members had little understanding of procurement procedures and the different requirements for obtaining different types of goods and services. The superintendent requested that the Business Office develop a procurement manual that captures the institutional knowledge of the district’s procedures for procurement that ensure that the district is in compliance with Idaho statues. Once this manual is complete it will be posted on the Finance pages of the district’s website to provide greater transparency and retention of this institutional knowledge when changes in personnel occur.

A Plant Facility Levy was passed on October 29, 2009 by patrons of the district. This levy provided $59,800,000 in Plant Facility monies to fund a series of construction projects, based on a ten year plan, and to fund the district’s saftey and technology plans. Many of the projects have been completed. In addition, there are some small projects paid for by the General Fund (before Plant Facility Levy funds started coming in) with Board approval and the understanding that these funds would be restored to the General Fund in the future. A detailing of these expenses will be brought to the Board in the near future for its approval to transfer funds from the Plant Facility Fund to the General Fund, as originally intended.

The Plant Facility fund currently has a balance slightly more than $14 million. There are some projects to be completed and one unanswered question about a possible new elementary school. At the time of the levy, the construction of an additional elementary school was considered if the district’s enrollment continued to grow at a rate similar to previous years. However, the district’s enrollment has remained relatively stable over the past several years. As the county begins to emerge from the economic downturn it will become clearer if the population growth of the county and its schools will resume or if the population of both will remain relatively stable, reducing the need for an additional elementary school. If it is determined that additional buildings are not needed the full property tax levy will not be collected.

59

Communication withStakeholders Blaine County School District #61

Review of Communication with Stakeholders

60

Communication with StakeholdersBlaine County School District #61

Question five on the superintendent’s Listening Tour was How do you stay informed on what is happening in BCSD or how would you like to be informed? Responses from participants indicated that Blaine County patrons and staff are firmly in the digital age. Email, electronic newsletter, and/or the website were named overwhelmingly as the primary methods of obtaining information about the district. It was sometimes hard to discern if the respondent was talking about a generic email or an electronic newsletter that was emailed to recipients. Therefore email, BCSD Weekly Update, and school newsletters were grouped together in the themes found from this question. There were 383 data points collected from this question. Each theme that was mentioned 19 times (5%) or more are listed in the table below.

This information provides insight to the superintendent as she develops her own plan for communicating with the district’s stakeholders. A Communications Department was established several years ago, which has greatly improved district communication as was often noted by Listening Tour participants when they cited the district emails or BCSD Weekly Update as their source of information on the district. However, there is room for improvement in how the district’s superintendent communicates with the community.

It is clear that information pushed directly to stakeholders’ email boxes is much more frequently recognized than information that is put on the website which requires the stakeholder to go specifically to a website to find it. In addition, staff interactions with each other and community patrons are an important way of communicating. Therefore, ensuring staff are accurately and well informed is critical to good communication. It is important that the superintendent work to stay connected with staff and patrons through email messages/newsletters and through direct interactions with staff and patrons.

THEME: HOW STAKEHOLDERS KNOWWHAT IS HAPPENING IN BCSD NUMBER OF TIMES HEARD

EMAIL 134

263BCSD WEEKLY UPDATE(DISTRICT ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER) 73

SCHOOL NEWSLETTER (ELECTRONIC) 56Web or social media 108

Staff 76Local newspapers 62

Text messages 21Word of mouth 19

61

Weekly News You Can Use email from superintendent to District Leadership Team (DLT). Weekly Superintendent’s Summary to Board of Trustees.Monthly superintendent’s message to the community in the BCSD Weekly Update, posted on the district’s website, and shared through social media. Repurposing select superintendent’s messages for letters to the editor.Increase district-wide staff newsletter from quarterly to monthly and include a message from the superintendent. District-wide emails from superintendent as district or national events occur that could garner media attention, so that staff hear the news first from the school district, not the media or word of mouth. Coaching and supporting school leaders in developing more robust systems (staff newsletter, parent newsletters) for communicating with their individual school staff and patrons. Debriefing DLT meetings at the close of each meeting to reinforce responsibilities for communicating meeting content with fellow staff members (Know, Do, Share).Weekly visits to classrooms by the superintendent. Weekly participation in individual school event’s (i.e. sports events, plays, music programs, etc.)Set-up systems for regular check-ins with stakeholder groups. (i.e. monthly meeting with PTA officers, quarterly luncheon with emergency first responders, etc.) Review systems for staff communication with parents. Seek recommendations from the Data and Communications Committee for ways to facilitate the communication.

Immediate plans for increasing communication between district leadership with staff and patrons include:

Communication with district stakeholders, both externally and internally, is critical to establishing and maintaining trust, building relationships and pursuing continuous improvement in a focused and intentional manner. This will continue to be an area for close monitoring and continuous improvement for the superintendent.

November 2014 State of the District Report

Documents

Transcript of November 2014 State of the District Report