16.17 Achievement Year in Review
Longbranch Elementary
Test information
Our students are assessed three times each year using products developed by Renaissance Place called Star Early Literacy, Star Reading, and Star Math. These are norm-referenced assessments meaning kids across the United States have taken them for years, the data has been extensively analyzed, and our kids' scores are compared to a norm for the age/grade level. This is how we are able to predict proficiency and how we are able to inform you of your child's national percentile rank.
When we say your child is in the 98th percentile in math, it means they score better than 98% of the kids across the nation who take the Star Math test. When we say they scored in the 12th percentile for reading, it means the are scoring better than 12% of the kids in the nation at their grade level who took the Star Reading test. 88% of the nation would be scoring higher than them.
Assessments we use:
Star Early Literacy: Grades K and 1 only
Star Reading: Grades 1-5
Star Math: Grades 2-5
At the beginning of the year, we used the data to set goals for our students. The goal is that all children will be "at proficiency" as indicated by the assessment by the end of the year. If the child is not at proficiency, the goal is that he or she grows more than one year's worth of knowledge in one school year to catch up and eventually close the proficiency gap.
You will see from our data below that our teachers and our students did a tremendous job of GROWING their scores from the start of the year to the end of the year. We also did a tremendous job reducing the amount of students scoring novice. In fact, we have some of the lowest novice scores in the district. In terms of proficiency, we are still hanging tough with the top 4. The numbers are very close for 2nd place in the district with a near tie between two other schools and us in reading, math, and early literacy---it's literally within one point between the three of us. We're gaining so much ground!
From where we started 7 years ago, we are over the moon proud of the curriculum planning, the hours and hours and hours of collaborative effort put in by the teachers and our instructional coach and the INCREDIBLE dedication of our scholars. They get down to business like nobody's business. Watch out, world. These leaders are the future and the future looks oh so promising.
When we say your child is in the 98th percentile in math, it means they score better than 98% of the kids across the nation who take the Star Math test. When we say they scored in the 12th percentile for reading, it means the are scoring better than 12% of the kids in the nation at their grade level who took the Star Reading test. 88% of the nation would be scoring higher than them.
Assessments we use:
Star Early Literacy: Grades K and 1 only
Star Reading: Grades 1-5
Star Math: Grades 2-5
At the beginning of the year, we used the data to set goals for our students. The goal is that all children will be "at proficiency" as indicated by the assessment by the end of the year. If the child is not at proficiency, the goal is that he or she grows more than one year's worth of knowledge in one school year to catch up and eventually close the proficiency gap.
You will see from our data below that our teachers and our students did a tremendous job of GROWING their scores from the start of the year to the end of the year. We also did a tremendous job reducing the amount of students scoring novice. In fact, we have some of the lowest novice scores in the district. In terms of proficiency, we are still hanging tough with the top 4. The numbers are very close for 2nd place in the district with a near tie between two other schools and us in reading, math, and early literacy---it's literally within one point between the three of us. We're gaining so much ground!
From where we started 7 years ago, we are over the moon proud of the curriculum planning, the hours and hours and hours of collaborative effort put in by the teachers and our instructional coach and the INCREDIBLE dedication of our scholars. They get down to business like nobody's business. Watch out, world. These leaders are the future and the future looks oh so promising.
READING
The table below shows:
- We reduced our Novice in Reading by 11 students from August to April.
- We reduced our Apprentice by 33 students from August to April.
- We increased our Proficient by 6 students from August to April.
- We increased our Distinguished by 41 students from August to April.
Additionally,
- Our kindergarten students are 2nd in the district to Mann by 1 point. (Star Early Lit)
- Our first grade students are top in the district. (Star Early Lit)
The 40th percentile is indicated because we begin remediation for all students below the 40th percentile. By the end of the year, only 17% of students were still in need of remediation in Reading. However, through our 212 program, all students receive personalized instruction based on their gaps in learning.
MATH
The table below shows:
- We reduced our Novice by 22 students from August to April.
- We reduced our Apprentice by 41 students from August to April.
- We increased our Proficient by 33 students from August to April.
- We increased our Distinguished by 42 students from August to April.
K-Prep Prediction
As you know, we worked very hard to reach the level of Distinguished school this year and the award of School of Distinction as a top 5% school in the state. Next year, these indicators go away. The state will no longer classify schools. We'll be waiting to see what the new reporting indicators look like and then report out to your as clearly as possible when we receive our results in early fall.
Our staff extensively analyzed data during May to develop our Wildly Important Goals for 17.18. We are on track to meet or exceed our reading goals on K-Prep this year. Our math may dip this year despite the great growth we had. Our focus area in math for 17.18 is to push our kids scoring Apprentice to Proficient. Currently our apprentice and our proficient are about the same, very large amount (about 40% of each). We call this the apprentice bubble. We know we can achieve our goal with specific strategies aimed at building number sense, number fluency, and streamlined curricular planning schoolwide. Our staff has committed to collaborative planning weekly with our instructional coach and our content leader teams will be leading us in essential professional development embedded in the school day throughout the next year. We have big dreams for your Longhorns and we plan to crush our goals next year. Thanks for joining us on the ride!
Our staff extensively analyzed data during May to develop our Wildly Important Goals for 17.18. We are on track to meet or exceed our reading goals on K-Prep this year. Our math may dip this year despite the great growth we had. Our focus area in math for 17.18 is to push our kids scoring Apprentice to Proficient. Currently our apprentice and our proficient are about the same, very large amount (about 40% of each). We call this the apprentice bubble. We know we can achieve our goal with specific strategies aimed at building number sense, number fluency, and streamlined curricular planning schoolwide. Our staff has committed to collaborative planning weekly with our instructional coach and our content leader teams will be leading us in essential professional development embedded in the school day throughout the next year. We have big dreams for your Longhorns and we plan to crush our goals next year. Thanks for joining us on the ride!
Longbranch Elementary School
Email: erika.bowles@boone.kyschools.us
Website: http://www.longbranch.boone.kyschools.us
Location: 2805 Longbranch Road, Union, KY, United States
Phone: 859-384-4500
Facebook: facebook.com/longbranchelem
Twitter: @longbranchelem