AKRON – Grades dominated the discussion Monday night at the Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting. Tippecanoe Valley Middle School Principal Blaine Conley gave a presentation on the School Improvement Plan for TVMS because of its grade from the state. Since the state graded TVMS an “F” last year, the School Improvement Plan presentation to the public was required by the Indiana Department of Education. Jon Hutton, the high school’s assistant principal, gave a report on the progress of the “Extracurricular Progressive F Policy” at the high school. And Superintendent Brett Boggs gave a presentation on Valley’s “A-F Accountability Report Card.” Conley said a Focus school is a school that receives a “D,” while a Priority school is one that gets an “F.” There were 99 schools in Indiana labeled as “Focus” schools for 2013, and 202 Priority schools. Kosciusko County is in Region 7, and there were 18 Focus schools in Region 7 and 23 Priority schools. Along with the “F” in 2013, TVMS received a “C” in 2012, an “F” in 2011 and a “C” in 2011. In 2010 and 2009, it received a “D,” Conley said. On ISTEP, 61 percent of TVMS students passed English language arts and math in 2013. Sixty-five percent passed in 2012; 55 percent in 2011; 69 percent in 2010; and 61 percent in 2009. “Everyone in this building understands that’s not good enough,” Conley said. After showing how TVMS’s Scholastic Reading Inventory scores have improved over the past three years, Conley revealed the middle school’s Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely (SMART) Goals. By May, TVMS will raise ELA proficiency in sixth through eighth grade by 3 percent as measured by ISTEP. It will decrease the number of students achieving low growth in ELA and math by 20 percent, and will raise math proficiency by 3 percent as measured by ISTEP. Conley discussed the eight “Turnaround Principles” for TVMS. Those principles include school leadership; school culture and climate; effective instruction; curriculum, assessment and intervention system; effective staffing practices; enabling the effective use of data; effective use of time; and effective family and community engagement. “These are eight principles in place high-performing, high-poverty schools use, but I think any school would use these,” Conley stated. Along with the public presentation, the IDOE also is requiring leadership assurance, two onsite visits by IDOE, walk-through observations and two years of achieving a “C” or better to discontinue the Priority school status. “Our goal is not a ‘C,’” Conley said, but to get better and student growth. Each of our eight Turnaround Principles will be monitored by our School Improvement team under the direction of representatives of the Department of Education,” Conley said. In another report, Hutton talked about the Extracurricular Progressive F Policy at the high school. In July, the school board approved the policy. It was implemented during the first semester of the 2013-14 school year. Under the policy, if a student participating in extracurricular activities has more than one “F” in a class they will be ineligible until the next grade check occurs 4-1/2 weeks later. They will still be able to participate in practices, but not compete. If they have one “F,” they will be placed on probation until the following grade check. If at that time they are found to have another “F,” they will be ineligible to participate in extracurricular until they show at the next grade check that they have all passing grades. There are three grades in each class that are considered for grade checks – the first quarter grade of the semester, the second quarter grade of the semester and the semester final grade. Last year, a total of five athletes were suspended under Indiana High School Athletic Association rules. In athletics, as of the end of the first semester this year, five boys were suspended at the end of the first quarter out of 134 athletes, or 3.7 percent. At mid-terms for the second quarter, two girls were suspended, seven boys were on probation and two girls were on probation. Of 96 total athletes, Hutton reported that was an impact of 11.4 percent. End of first semester, one boy was suspended, five boys were on probation and five girls were on probation. Of 96 total athletes, that’s a 11.4 percent impact. For extracurricular participation, at the end of the first quarter, four boys and two girls were suspended and three boys and six girls were on probation out of 173 total participants (8.6 percent). Mid-terms for second quarter, two boys and one girl were suspended and five boys and two girls were on probation out of 178 total participants (5.6 percent). End of semester one, four boys and four girls were suspended and nine boys and four girls were on probation out of 178 total participants (11.7 percent). Board member Mark Wise asked what the numbers would have been if Valley had kept the policy as it was under the IHSAA rules. Hutton said he didn’t have those numbers, but could get them for the board. Boggs asked how parents know what’s going on with their child in reference to the policy. Hutton replied that as they continue to learn more about this, they continue to find things they need to improve. Parent notification is one of those things. The third report on grades Monday was Boggs’ report on Valley’s A-F Accountability Report Card. For the last school year, Akron Elementary received a “C,” Mentone Elementary got a “B,” TVMS earned the “F,” the high school received a “B” and overall the school corporation received a “C.” Boggs discussed the formulas the DOE uses to grade each school, with the focus being on growth. The school corporation, he said, won’t be satisfied with nothing less than an “A” for the corporation and each of the individual schools. Until then, areas of improvement will be identified and strategies to address them will be developed. “We can do better,” Boggs said. He also noted there are multiple factors impacting school letter grades the public may not be aware of. Many in the state question the validity of the ISTEP+ scores, which the letter grades are based upon. The ISTEP+ testes were taken by Indiana students during the initial year of mandatory statewide online testing, which was a “disaster,” Boggs said. The online testing of many students was repeatedly delayed and interrupted. Testing schedules were changed multiple times. “I think that’s a shame on a high-stakes test like this,” Boggs said. The last report of the meeting was on the student count. The IDOE takes two student membership counts each school year, beginning with this year. The year’s first count was taken Sept. 13 with a total enrollment at Valley of 1,986 students. The second count day was Feb. 3 and Valley had an enrollment of 1,958 students - 28 less than the September count. Boggs said a decline in student enrollment during the second semester is not uncommon in Indiana schools. During the 2012-13 school year, the September 2012 enrollment was 1,981 students, which dropped to 1,933 students in February 2013.
