Valley School Board Hears Report On Accountability Grades
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
MENTONE – Tippecanoe Valley building principals discussed their schools’ 2014 A-F Accountability Grades at the school board meeting Monday night. The Indiana Department of Education released the grades Wednesday. Tippecanoe Valley School Corp.’s overall grade was a “C,” the same as 2013 and 2012. Chrissy Mills, Akron Elementary principal, said her school received a “C,” which is 2.5 points out of a possible 4. She said they lost a point in English/language arts because, overall, students didn’t show enough growth. To improve for next year, Mills said the school is looking at its interventions this year. Everyone has a reading block, and Mills put in a 60-minute math block. There are daily interventions for students who need remediation. “We’re looking at standards closely and areas we were low on a little bit. We changed our day a bit,” she said. Mentone Principal Angie Miller said her school received a “B,” 3.50 points, the same as last year. Her school improved in some areas but fell back in others. Tippecanoe Valley Assistant Superintendent Blaine Conley was the principal at the middle school last year. He said TVMS received a “D,” 1.5 points, up from an “F” in 2013. Students’ performance in math and English/language arts increased over the year before, and Conley said the middle school has made strides. Scott Backus, current TVMS principal, said the school is trying to continue to show growth. The schedule changed this year so teachers in each department have the same prep period. Backus said he’s asking teachers to discuss what needs to be done with students during their prep periods. The ISTEP test will be harder this year, so classwork will be more stringent, he said. “We’re working on making classroom instruction as good as it can be,” he said. “It’s a whole different test this year,” Mills added. Dr. Michael Bendicsen, high school principal, said his school received a “C” for 2013-14. That is down from a “B” in 2013 and “A” in 2012. This is Bendicsen’s first year as principal at TVHS, having replaced Kirk Doehrmann. For high schools, the grade is based on English/language arts and math End of Course Assessments, graduation rate and college and career readiness. The 10th-grade ECAs are compared to the students’ eighth-grade ISTEP results, he said. “We’re not satisfied with the letter grade of ‘C’ and we will raise that grade,” Bendicsen said. Superintendent Brett Boggs said the school corporation earned 2.47 points out of 4 for its “C” overall grade. “It is a compilation of all the schools put together,” he said. The grading scale used by the state is: 3.51 to 4 points, an “A”; 3 to 3.5, “B”; 2 to 2.99, “C”; 1 to 1.99, “D”; and 0 to 0.99 points, “F.” “I think it’s very obvious we’re not all satisfied with where we’re at,” Boggs stated. “We have work to do and we’re determined to get it done.” The change in testing starts a new baseline, Boggs said, so the letter grades will be comparing “apples to oranges.” Testing will be much different and it will take a while for students and teachers to grasp it, he said. Mills said the schools are trying to help everyone understand it as much as possible, and that the testing will require more stamina so the schools will be working on that with students. In other business, the school board: • Recognized the TVHS FFA chapter for being awarded the 2-Star Chapter Award by the 2014 National Chapter Award program from the National FFA organization. FFA sponsor Lisa Paxton was recognized for recently being awarded the Honorary Hoosier Degree at the 2014 Indiana State FFA Convention. “I was extremely humbled and I had no idea it was coming,” Paxton told the board. • Recognized Valley’s special education program and Director of Special Services Meagan Wilks for the program being ranked highly by the Indiana Department of Education. “This is a pretty big deal for me,” Wilks said. • Approved dual credit courses at TVHS with Grace College as requested by Bendicsen. The courses will include the American studies program and Spanish III. They will take effect in January. • Approved Bendicsen’s request to dissolve the TVHS parent-teacher organization and approve the creation of a TVHS Parent Advisory Group. • Approved personnel matters, including Justin Branock as varsity baseball coach, TVHS; Staci Lind, girls tennis coach, TVHS; and Daryl Shoemaker as varsity softball coach, TVHS. • Approved changes to the TVMS student handbook as requested by Backus. Among the changes, students can have a clear bottle of water with them throughout the school day, with some restrictions. • Heard from Wilks about the school corporation’s revised seclusion and restraint policy and plan. The board will vote on it at the December meeting. Wilks also presented the high ability program manual, which the board also will vote on at in December. • Heard from Boggs that in the summer at the middle school, lighting was changed with the thought that the school would see energy savings. In September/October 2013, the school district was billed for 177,000 kw hours of electricity for the middle school. This year, it was billed for 142,000. “We have seen some significant savings. We feel if this continues, we will see $10,000 to $12,000 in savings,” Boggs reported. • Announced upcoming board meetings will be Dec. 15, Mentone Elementary; Jan. 19, Burket Educational Center; and Feb. 9, TVMS, all at 6:30 p.m.
