ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT

Transcription

1 ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT FEBRUARY 1, 2017

2 AEA 9 Annual Progress Report Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency aims to improve teaching and learning for all students through active partnerships and assertive leadership in a climate of mutual respect. Executive Summary Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency (MBAEA) has restructured to co-own the accountability for improved student performance with schools and school districts. MBAEA s improved student performance coownership strategy is being initiated through collaborative partnerships. These partnerships are a two-way effort to develop, support, and sustain effective learning environments for all students within every classroom. The partnership s purpose is to improve the entire learning system, leverage MBAEA s resources at the classroom level, and achieve better teaching and learning results. The underlying need for this prek-12 system change effort is the intellectual knowledge and skill rigor necessary for graduates to successfully complete postsecondary programs and prepare themselves to pursue 21 st Century career opportunities. MBAEA s co-ownership responsibility is allocating its resource expertise to ensure a substantial impact on the desired improved student learning outcomes sought locally, regionally, and statewide. The desired learning environment outcome through these collaborative partnerships is educator efficacy to consistently execute all the essential teaching and learning routines with fidelity. The desired learning environment has several essential aspects that are presented below. These learning environment aspects were selected because the majority of published research studies that also include evidence of high student learning effect sizes validate their importance. The leadership capacity by everyone in the system whether it be a teacher, administrator, or MBAEA service provider is paramount to successful collaboration. These aspects have been captured within a framework to guide the development and implementation as well as operationalizing and optimizing each identified aspect. MBAEA has created three building collaboration teams serving our service region public and accredited nonpublic schools. Ultimately, it is an expectation partnership participants will exhibit efficacious behaviors that improve teaching and learning. ESSENTIAL ASPECTS OF AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: COLLABORATIVE CULTURE RESPONSIVE DATA-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING RELEVANCY THROUGH STUDENT VOICE EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVE ADULT LEARNING RIGOROUS LEARNING STANDARDS RELIABLE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES RESEARCH-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES 2

3 A strong feature of these collaborative partnerships is that schools will receive highly integrated services from MBAEA s building collaboration teams combining general and special education expertise. An important feature is MBAEA s early childhood services meeting the teaching and learning needs of preschools and birth to 5 diverse learners and their families with a seamless transition to the prek-12 educational system partnership work. Another feature is enhancing these partnerships by incorporating the implementation of Iowa s Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), Collaborating for Iowa s Kids (C4K), Iowa Code Early Literacy, Differentiated Accountability, and Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) initiatives. These features are embedded within MBAEA s holistic partnership approach to provide comprehensive school improvement services meeting the AEA Standards for Services expectations and also the goals defined in the IOWA AEA COMPACT. The collaborative partnership strategy has been initiated and is impacting MBAEA s services within all public and accredited non-public schools. The start-up efforts and co-ownership relationship development varies within area schools. Each school has its own teaching and learning environment priorities and needs. The three collaborative building teams are working with school leaders to effectively and efficiently allocate MBAEA s resource expertise to match a school s priority teaching and learning environment needs. The collaborative partnerships have been designed to coexist with each school district s identified diverse student learning needs. It is a long-range expectation once the learning environment framework is operationalized through these strong collaborative partnerships it will sustain MBAEA s ability to address each school s current priority student learning needs and address new priorities as they may emerge. Table of Contents Page Executive Summary Agency-Wide Goal(s) 281 IAC 72.10(2) Reading Goal Page 6 Mathematics Goal Page 8 Science Goal Page 10 AEA COMPACT Page 12 Teacher, Student, and School District Needs 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(1) Student Learning Needs 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(1)(2) Cost Efficiency 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(4)(1) Timely Services 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(4)(2) Customer Participation 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(5)(1) Customer Satisfaction 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(5)(2) Assurances Appendix A: Iowa School Report Card Description

4 REPORT TABLES Table # Title Page 1 Reading Goal Progress 6 2 Literacy Educator Feedback Statewide Satisfaction Survey 6 3 C4K Pilot Site Special Education Subgroup Reading Proficiency Rates 7 4 MBAEA Literacy Resource Allocations 7 5 Mathematics Goal Progress 8 6 Mathematics Educator Feedback Statewide AEA Satisfaction Survey 9 7 Science Goal Progress 11 8 Iowa Core Science Standards Training Participation Eastern Iowa Science Collaborative Participation MBAEA Needs Assessment Sources Statewide AEA Satisfaction Survey Educator Feedback Area Education Agency Student Population Demographics and 2016 Iowa School Report Card Ranking Comparison and 2016 Iowa School Report Card Measures Comparison Three Year Goal Subgroup Reading, Math, & Science Performance Iowa Youth Survey Data MBAEA Program & Service Participation Statewide AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey Staff Development Participant Satisfaction 23 4

5 Agency-Wide Goal(s) 281 IAC 72.10(2)(a) COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY The collaborative partnership strategy has been initiated and is impacting Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency s (MBAEA) services within all public and accredited non-public schools. The start-up efforts and co-ownership relationship development varies within area schools. Each school has its own specific teaching and learning environment priorities and needs. The collaborative partnerships have been designed to coexist with each school district s identified comprehensive school improvement plan. The partnership s system change effort is directly aligned to reaching the agency s reading, mathematics, and science goals and AEA COMPACT outcomes. Therefore, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of every school s learning environment for all students is the agency s primary strategy to reach its goals. The two key components within this effective system are Iowa s Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Professional Learning Communities (PLC). MTSS is the response-to-intervention instructional process focused on a tiered intervention approach ensuring all students achieve at high levels and PLCs are a data-driven collaborative teaming approach which includes embedded professional development so that teachers have the capacity to implement with fidelity their MTSS instructional interventions. These two important components create an instructional and professional development foundation so that partner schools have opportunities to sustain student learning at high levels. The comprehensive system work includes the following aspects of an effective learning environment: collaborative culture; effective adult learning; rigorous learning standards; research-based instructional practices; reliable assessment practices; relevancy through student voice; and responsive data-driven decision-making. The system change effort is transforming every classroom within all schools so that these foundation components and aspects of an effective learning environment are everyday routines. MBAEA has established three building level collaborative teams to provide the expertise, training, coaching, and leadership support so that every school may have a strong instructional and professional development foundation embedded within an effective learning system. The agency s three collaborative teams are providing the necessary leadership support so that schools may address their learning foundation and their overall learning environment. The initial support by these teams has been to begin developing collaborative cultures as a start point. Schools have identified collaborative culture through internal needs assessment activities. The MBAEA teams are comprised of multi-discipline members with varying expertise so that MBAEA services meet school and school district teaching and learning needs. The following districts listed below have begun initial intensive collaborative partnership work. These school districts have generated powerful feedback so that the agency s collaborative teams continually learn and adjust to meet individual school s student learning needs. Thus, the agency is learning to be more responsive and increase its ability to address the diverse learning needs of all students. Calamus-Wheatland CSD Camanche CSD Davenport CSD (selected schools) Easton Valley CSD Louisa-Muscatine CSD Maquoketa CSD Co-ownership, being accountable for every school s achievement results, is driving MBAEA s resource allocations and service supports to schools and school districts. The high levels of learning for all students being sought are fundamentally rooted in expanding the learning environments to be a robust place with students demonstrating their knowledge and skills through real-world experiences. 5

6 Progress with Improved Teaching - Reading Goal 1 Title: READING 2001 Board Adopted Reading Goal: Increase the percentage of low socioeconomic, minority, and individual plan students (students with disabilities) achieving reading proficiency in grades 3-8 and 11. Progress with Improved Teaching Reading School Year Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency has increased reading achievement by the low socioeconomic, minority, and special education goal subgroups. The agency has met its reading goal. The increased reading achievement is presented in Table 1. The reading achievement progress has slowed in recent years and appears to have plateaued since 2011 following the Iowa Assessments being aligned to the rigorous Iowa Core Literacy Learning Standards. The low socioeconomic (9%) and minority subgroups (10%) have notable achievement gap reductions. Table 1: Reading Goal Progress 2001 Baseline Grades 3-8 & 11 Proficiency Rates 15 YR Gain Reading Goal Subgroups Low Socioeconomic Students 45% 60% 62% 61% 16% Minority Students 43% 59% 60% 60% 17% Students with Disabilities 22% 28% 28% 26% 4% Comparison to All Student Proficiency Rates All Students 67% 73% 74% 74% 7% Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency received positive feedback from educators regarding the agency s services meeting educator professional needs, Iowa Core implementation access, and literacy supports. Educator positive responses to Iowa Core support and meeting literacy needs increased during the past school year. Literacy educators are implementing a new statewide literacy mandate (Iowa Code Early Literacy) within elementary schools. The recent statewide survey educator feedback is presented in Table 2. The 2016 survey return rate was more than 30% less than MBAEA had an aggregate % percentage point customer satisfaction increase. (The increase is the three survey items summative percentage difference between 2015 and 2016 found in Table 2.) Table 2: Literacy Educator Feedback - Statewide AEA Satisfaction Survey Strongly Agree & Agree Fall Fall % 89.0% 75.4% 67.5% 72.7% 68.5% Feedback Item Generally, the AEA services that I have received or participated in met my professional needs. The AEA helps me plan and/or implement practices to ensure that students have access to the Iowa Core. The AEA helps me meet the literacy needs of students. Number Responded Fall 2016 Fall In addition to the collaborative partnerships, MBAEA has implemented and partnered with the Iowa Department of Education on several research-based strategies to improve student reading performance. The following additional supports are underway to address improved student reading performance: 6

7 Collaborating for Iowa Kids (C4K) partnership with the Iowa Department of Education which includes the statewide literacy pilot school sites. These pilot sites are an integral step in development of high quality statewide literacy instructional guidance. After this piloting phase, the guidance is distributed at all statewide schools. An outcome of this rigorous development activity is area pilot schools have had positive student literacy outcomes. The pilot sites have especially had positive special education student reading outcomes. MBAEA had an overall regional special education subgroup proficiency rate of 26% and the public pilot sites had special education subgroup proficiency rates 2 or 3 times greater. The pilot site success with special education proficiency rates is presented in Table 3. These pilot site special education outcomes are promising as MBAEA supports the C4K effort with every elementary school. The C4K use a collaborative inquiry process with school leadership teams to address literacy instruction and learning environment. The C4K statewide activities are integrated into the collaborative partnership work; thus, schools receive a seamless support system that includes statewide initiatives and mandates. Table 3: C4K Pilot Site Special Education Subgroup Reading Proficiency Rates Special Education Proficiency Collaborating for Iowa Kids (C4K) Pilot Schools School Year 76.2% Northeast Elementary School 60.7% Central Intermediate School 60.0% Delwood Elementary School 52.9% Ekstrand Elementary School, Central Community School District 51.1% Pleasant Valley Elementary Schools MBAEA had trainings (October to December 2016) to disseminate this statewide C4K reading instruction guidance and 17 school districts and 4 accredited non-public schools attended. 114 area educators participated in the literacy training. The MBAEA resources allocated to improved literacy outcomes is presented in Table 4. The agency s literacy team has the expertise to support the literacy learning needs of schools. Additionally, MBAEA has the benefit of 21 professional staff members having a reading endorsement. Table 4: MBAEA Literacy Resource Allocations Resources Literacy Supports 10 Consultants Literacy team supporting C4K among all area elementary schools 6 Consultants Supporting special education literacy needs 18 Teachers Supporting early childhood literacy efforts 6 Consultants Supporting early childhood teachers literacy efforts 5 Consultants Supporting Specially Designed Instruction implementation Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) and Special Education Services The statewide roll-out of Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) has a literacy component and SDI will soon be used to support more special education students with individual education plan s (IEP) reading goals. MBAEA has 162 special education professionals assigned to individual schools to assist with Child Find and supporting an effective intervention system (MTSS) to meet individual student learning needs. MBAEA has 66% of students (4,432 of 6,682 total IEP students) that have a reading goal in their IEP. The following is the breakdown of IEP reading goal students within each grade span: 2,140 students 7

8 within the elementary grades K-5; 1,096 students within middle grades 6-8; and 913 students within high school grades Reading Recovery MBAEA provides Reading Recovery services to the school districts listed below. Reading Recovery is a research-based intervention for struggling first grade readers at the elementary level. MBAEA has two fully trained consultants certified as teacher leaders. Andrew Community School District Easton Valley Community School District Bettendorf Community School District Delwood Community School District Durant Community School District Easton Valley Community School District Northeast Community School District North Scott Community School District Progress with Improved Teaching - Mathematics Goal 2 Title: MATHEMATICS 2001 Board Adopted Mathematics Goal: Increase the percentage of low socioeconomic, minority, and individual plan students (students with disabilities) achieving mathematics proficiency in grades 3-8 and 11. Progress with Improved Teaching Mathematics School Year Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency has increased mathematics achievement by the low socioeconomic, minority, and special education goal subgroups. The agency has met its mathematics goal. The increased mathematics achievement is presented in Table 5. The mathematics achievement progress has slowed in recent years and appears to have plateaued since 2011 following the Iowa Assessments being aligned to the rigorous Iowa Core Mathematics Learning Standards. The low socioeconomic (10%) and minority subgroups (12%) have notable achievement gap reductions. Table 5: Mathematics Goal Progress 2001 Baseline Grades 3-8 & 11 Proficiency Rates 15 YR Gain Mathematics Goal Subgroups Low Socioeconomic Students 49% 63% 65% 64% 15% Minority Students 45% 61% 62% 62% 17% Students with Disabilities 28% 37% 37% 33% 5% Comparison to All Student Proficiency Rates All Students 71% 76% 77% 76% 5% Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency received positive feedback from educators regarding the agency s services meeting educator professional needs, Iowa Core implementation access, and mathematics supports. Educator positive responses to Iowa Core support and meeting math needs increased during the past school year. The recent statewide survey educator feedback is presented in Table 6. The 2016 survey return rate was more than 30% less than MBAEA had an aggregate % percentage point customer satisfaction increase. (The increase is the three survey items summative percentage difference between 2015 and 2016 found in Table 2.) The priority focus within many schools has been literacy. The less than 1% satisfaction increase feedback from the AEA helps me meet math needs of students found in Table 2 may be reflective of the literacy priority occupying educator time and effort. 8

9 Table 6: Mathematics Educator Feedback - Statewide AEA Satisfaction Survey Strongly Agree & Agree Fall Fall Feedback Item Number Responded Fall 2016 Fall % 89.0% Generally, the AEA services that I have received or participated in met my professional needs % 67.5% The AEA helps me plan and/or implement practices to ensure that students have access to the Iowa Core % 63.5% The AEA helps me meet the math needs of students In addition to the collaborative partnerships, MBAEA has implemented the following supports to address improved student mathematics performance: Iowa Core Mathematics MBAEA Numeracy Consultants supported math teachers with Common Core Mathematical Practice Standards to ensure that instructional practices provide students with multiple experiences to understand, connect, and apply mathematical content. In order for students to understand mathematical ideas beyond memorized steps to generalizing how and why strategies work efficiently, teachers must understand the content deeply themselves and learn strategies that support sense making in the classroom. The outcome is to prepare students with the skills to sift through the abundance of data available in our technological world and seek solutions using the critical thinking of applied mathematics. The focus is ensuring students are actively making sense of how mathematical ideas fit within a real world context. In today s world, students understand the need to be collaborative, innovative, problem solvers and flexible thinkers. MBAEA Numeracy Consultants are ensuring teachers have support in operationalizing the essential characteristics of a 21 st Century math classroom. Consultants provide specialized training of math content and best practices through our Best Practices in Mathematics Instruction summer courses. The summer of 2016, MBAEA hosted six school districts which included 33 classroom teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators. Participants solved standards-based mathematical tasks with colleagues, observed and analyzed classroom video, and discussed reading as contexts for examining important research on effective mathematics classrooms. Leadership Summit MBAEA Numeracy Consultants, Shannon Pasvogel and Kim Awalt, partnered with Grant Wood AEA and Great Prairie AEA numeracy consultants in a training held at Stanford University. The training was Youcube Math Leadership Summit and Jo Boaler, the author of Mathematical Mindsets, and leader of the Youcubed organization empowered teams of leaders across the United States with the knowledge and resources to engage teachers, parents and students in equitable and engaging mathematics learning. Participants learned about important research in education and neuroscience. This numeracy capacity building has become part of the collaborative partnerships with schools and school districts. This year, three school districts are utilizing this new learning to impact 400 students. ST Math is a software product for students to learn logic skills to assist their math concept learning skills. The program is creating positive student math outcomes. The project has been a partnership 9

10 between the John Deere Foundation, MBAEA, and school districts. The program also supports regional STEM efforts. Innovative Numeracy Instruction Technology (ST Math ) Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency and area school districts have partnered together to provide elementary students with MIND Research Institute s ST MATH instructional software. The learning provides students with self-paced, language independent, scaffolded, and mastery-based environment. The partnership includes the John Deere Foundation contributing to the software purchase to expand student access to this valuable learning experience. The following schools are participating: Bellevue Elementary School Bridgeview Elementary School Bluff Elementary School Clinton Middle School Cody Elementary School Delwood Elementary School Eagle Heights Elementary School Fillmore Elementary School Franklin Elementary School Grant Wood Elementary School Hopewell Elementary School Herbert Hoover Elementary School Easton Valley Elementary School Hayes Elementary School J B Young Intermediate School Jefferson Elementary School Clinton Jefferson Elementary School Davenport Madison Elementary School Mark Twain Elementary School Monroe Elementary School Neil Armstrong Elementary School Northeast Elementary School Paul Norton Elementary School Pleasant View Elementary School River Heights Elementary School Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Whittier Elementary School West Liberty Elementary School Goal 3 Title: SCIENCE 2001 Board Adopted Science Goal: Increase the percentage of low socioeconomic, minority, and individual plan students (students with disabilities) achieving science proficiency in grades 5, 8, and 11. Progress toward Agency-wide Goal 3: School Year Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency has increased science achievement by the low socioeconomic, minority, and special education goal subgroups. The agency has met its science goal. The science goal progress is presented in Table 7. The mathematics achievement progress has slowed in recent years and appears to have plateaued since the Iowa Assessments were aligned to the Iowa Core Learning Standards, in , that increased the academic rigor of statewide science accountability assessment. The goal subgroup achievement gaps have been reduced. The low socioeconomic (10%), minority (13%), and students with disabilities (8%) subgroups have had achievement gap reductions. Table 7: Science Goal Progress 2001 Baseline Grades 5, 8 & 11 Proficiency Rates 15 YR Gain Science Goal Subgroups Low Socioeconomic Students 48% 64% 65% 65% 17% Minority Students 43% 62% 62% 63% 20% Students with Disabilities 27% 44% 37% 42% 15% Comparison to All Student Proficiency Rates All Students 70% 77% 78% 77% 7% 10

11 Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency has implemented several research-based strategies to improve student science performance. MBAEA through its collaborative partnerships is meeting school and school districts science teaching and learning needs by: [a] supporting implementation of the Iowa Department of Education s adopted Iowa Core Science Standards; [b] facilitating science teacher Iowa Core Science Standards implementation into curriculum and units; [c] assisting elementary schools with hands-on science curriculum; and [d] expanding school district involvement in the statewide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiatives. Two examples of MBAEA s science supports are: Iowa Core Science Standards (see Table 8) Table 8: Iowa Core Science Standards Training Participation 2016 Iowa Core Science Follow-up Support Non-Public Districts 2016 Year 2 Iowa Core Science Professional Development Non-Public Districts 2015 Year 1 Iowa Core Science Professional Development Districts Non-Public Schools Schools Schools Number Percent 43% 14% 67% 29% 86% 54% o o o o STEM development work was attended by 5 school districts and 2 non-public schools. Implementation of the Iowa Science Standards for administrators and instructional coaches was attended by 48% (10) of the public school districts. Professional Learning Communities addressing science learning was provided to Louisa- Muscatine, Central, Easton Valley, and Camanche School Districts. High School Course Mapping for science teachers was provided to 78% (14) school districts. Eastern Iowa Science Collaborative Participation (EISC) The consortium program is an AEA collaborative including Grant Wood AEA, Keystone AEA, Great Prairie AEA, and Mississippi Bend AEA. The project provides teachers with rigorous hands-on science curriculum for their classroom and effective instructional techniques so that elementary students may fully engage in the active learning. The collaborative partners provide training for elementary classroom teachers on how to use hands-on science within their classroom. These AEA partners develop new units, organize utilization, and transport the science unit kits to elementary schools. The AEA partners create efficiencies for teachers and their valuable instructional time by ensuring all the necessary science equipment and materials are within the kits and ready to use. Collaborative participation is presented in Table 9. The student impact numbers presented in Table 9 were based on the Iowa Public School District Certified Data Enrollment. MBAEA provided workshops to update teachers on Life Science during The workshops were attended by 67 teachers from 8 school districts and 3 non-public schools. Physical science updates will be held in

12 Table 9: Eastern Iowa Science Collaborative Participation February 1, 2017 Annual Progress Report District Number of units Grade Levels Number of Students ordered Participating Impacted Bellevue 15 2, 3, 4, 5, Bennett 6 5, 6, 7 75 Bettendorf 78 2, 3, Calamus-Wheatland 33 K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Central DeWitt 50 K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Delwood 23 K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Durant Maquoketa Muscatine 113 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 2,340 North Scott 120 K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 1,686 All Saints Lourdes 6 3, 4, 5 88 St. Joseph s 21 K, 1, 2, 3, 7 86 St. Paul the Apostle 28 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, TOTAL: 497 K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 7,042 Progress toward Agency-wide Goals: School Year Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency is committed to its statewide partnership with the Iowa Department of Education to improve the state s education system to meet the challenges of teaching and learning across the state. The AEA COMPACT goals and commitments were embedded in the newly formed collaborative partnerships so that schools and school districts learning needs are met. AEA COMPACT Area Education Agencies (AEAs) statewide have partnered with the Iowa Department of Education and local education agencies (schools and school districts) to address the following student goal. By 2018, every child who graduates from an Iowa pre-k-12 public or non-public accredited school will be prepared for success in post-secondary studies, a career, and citizenship. 1. Every Iowa child will be proficient in reading by the end of third grade. 2. A numeracy goal will be determined after sufficient progress has been made in reaching the literacy goal. 3. The learning gaps between students with Individualized Education Plans and those without and for those students in disaggregated sub-groups will be reduced by half by A post-secondary readiness goal will be established by 2014 that most accurately identifies and tracks post-secondary success. AEAs have made a commitment to: As a system, Iowa s Area Education Agencies will: 1. Provide supports and accountability for implementation of evidence-based, internationally benchmarked, and scalable best practices in all Iowa schools. 2. Promote implementation of the Iowa Core while remaining unwavering in our commitment to identify and serve special needs populations. 12

13 3. Advocate that the current AEA accreditation standards be revised so that they are consistent with the New Compact. 4. Deliver specialized, quality services based on individual student, building, and district needs through a learning contract with each LEA that specifies each partner s reciprocal responsibilities to increase student learning. 5. Re-purpose resources from programs that are not aligned with our overarching goal and vital few measures and/or not delivering consistent student learning results. 6. Build the collective, organizational capacity of AEA personnel to deliver quality services as coowners of every student s learning and to decrease variability between AEAs. 7. Maximize our resources. This will include mobilization of collaborative partnerships across all AEAs and with other educational partners, establishment of consortia of AEAs as appropriate, exploration of entrepreneurial opportunities, application of quality management techniques, and establishment of practices consistent with highly reliable organizations. The collaborative partnership strategy being deployed by MBAEA is aligned to the AEA COMPACT goal and outcomes. The strategy will implement: co-ownership of teaching and learning improvements resulting in student learning performance gains; Iowa Core student learning standards so that all students learn at high levels; quality services to meet AEA COMPACT outcomes and individual school teaching and learning needs; target MBAEA expertise effectively and efficiently to meet the AEA COMPACT outcomes and MBAEA will shift resources to meet these priority needs; and collaborate with other AEAs statewide to maximize efficiencies across the AEA system. MBAEA has initialed the following actions that demonstrate its commitment to AEA COMPACT and the student outcomes: Embraced co-ownership of school and school district student performance outcomes as a primary agency resource and support allocation decision-making process. The agency restructured the administrative team to address the agency s stagnate special education, poverty, and minority subgroup achievement trends. MBAEA special education achievement was the lowest in the state among AEAs and improving special education learning outcomes is the highest agency priority. Adopted a field leadership approach so that the vast majority of certified administrators provide specific expertise to train and coach AEA staff as well as LEA educators. The restructured administrative team has demonstrated leadership capacity beyond management and supervision. The team is providing key expertise to train and coach special and general education staff to effectively deliver collaborative partnership system change strategy. The new leadership team has been providing professional development to area school principals to develop their capacity to implement all aspects of an effective learning environment. Created three Building Collaboration Teams with special and general education team members using individual expertise and blended expertise to provide schools with robust AEA services that meet the AEA COMPACT goal and outcomes. Embedded capacity building within the agency to meet the service needs of schools and school districts. The Building Collaboration Teams are engaged in an integrated professional development activities to ensure the collaborative partnership have successful outcomes. 13

14 Progress with Teacher, Student, and School District Needs 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(1) February 1, 2017 Annual Progress Report Progress with Teacher, Student, and School District Needs School Year FINDING: The needs assessment feedback from multiple sources, see Table 10, indicates MBAEA s highly diverse student population requires a robust learning environment that is responsive to individual student learning needs so that the school s learning environment cultivates student learning efficacy to reach high performance levels through engagement and empowerment. Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency concluded the overarching teaching and learning need is leveraging a system change to improve all aspects of the learning environment. The conclusion was reached after gathering needs assessment from many sources. Those sources are presented in Table 10. The analysis indicated that recent service efforts to target resources often produced immediate performance gains and these efforts once the new wore off did not sustain performance growth over an extended period of time. Therefore, the recent pattern of reading, mathematics, and science student performance stagnation presented in Table 1, Table 5, and Table 7 indicates reaching the desired student learning goals will require a system change approach. The diverse student population evidence presented in Table 12, page 16, is: nearly half of the students within the service region (47%) are from low income households; almost a third (29%) are minority and includes a sizable number of English language learners; and approximately 1 in 10 students (12%) require some specialize learning through special education services. Plus, other diverse needs such as gifted and talented and a variety of diverse student equity needs are also important priorities. Table 10: MBAEA Needs Assessment Sources Needs Assessment Sources - Iowa Code Three Years of Data Collection AEA COMPACT X X X Iowa School Report Card (see Appendix A) NA X X Collaborative Partnerships with Districts NA NA X Superintendents Advisory X X X Curriculum Directors Advisory X X X Principals Advisory Council X X X Staff Development Advisory Council X X X Media Advisory X X X School Technology Committee X X X Counselor Academy X X X AEA Statewide Satisfaction Survey X X X Iowa Department of Education Expectations X X X District SMART Plan NA NA X AEA Service/Program Evaluations X X X Iowa Department of Education has placed district reporting processes on hold until the new Every Child Succeeds Act (ESSA) application has been completed. District CSIPs, APRs, DINA, & SINA X X NA Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency identified this priority teaching and learning need by filtering all feedback through the Iowa AEA Standards for Service, (1-8). The AEA Standards for Service are: School and Community Planning; Professional Development; Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; Diverse Learner Needs; Multicultural Gender Fair; Media Services; School Technology; and 14

15 Leadership. These standards are guiding factors to determine programs and services to meet the identified student learning needs. The needs assessment finding to improve the all aspects of the learning environment was validated by the 2015 and 2016 AEA Statewide Satisfaction Survey. Educators were asked to provide feedback regarding the priority for development and/or implementation of teaching and learning needs within their classroom, school, and/or district. The educator survey responses to the needs assessment priorities are presented in Table 11. The needs assessment feedback included administrators and teachers within public and accredited non-public schools served by Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency (386 educators responded). The survey feedback validated the overarching system change need finding. MBAEA found an estimated 26% aggregated growth from the 9 survey items, Table 11, in the strongly agree and agree responses response rate was nearly 30% less than 2015 rate. Table 11: Statewide AEA Satisfaction Survey Educator Feedback Aligning MBAEA Services to School Teaching & Learning Needs A. Iowa Core instructional English/Language Arts and literacy strategies and/or interventions B. Iowa instructional numeracy and/or mathematics strategies and/or interventions. C. Student engagement instructional strategies and/or interventions to increase student learning ownership and/or empowerment. D. Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) to ensure core instruction is effective as well as the tiered intervention processes. E. Cultural competency and/or equity protocols to ensure every student feels connected to school and supported by their school community. F. Technology integration to support various interactive personalized learning experiences. G. Embedded professional development to meet individual educator and school needs. H. Planning and/or implementation processes that include root-cause analysis, needs assessment tools, and datadriven decision-making protocols. I. Leadership knowledge and skills to facilitate a quality system which includes valuable coaching support, ongoing collaboration, and formative assessment. Fall 2015 Strongly Agree & Agree Fall 2016 Strongly Agree & Agree 79.2% 81.0% 78.8% 82.0% 78.9% 79.5% 75.5% 77.3% 57.0% 63.0% 68.3% 71.2% 71.0% 76.7% 64.9% 66.9% 67.9% 70.2% The diverse student population comparison with other area education agencies is presented Table 12. MBAEA is one of nine area education agencies (AEAs) statewide. MBAEA has the fourth largest student population service region and second highest percentage of minority students. MBAEA is among the five AEAs with 40% or greater low socioeconomic student populations with the other three being below 40%. AEAs percentage of students identified with disabilities (special education) is very similar. The number of students from low income households has steadily increased and current projections indicate that increase will continue into the near future. Table 12 validates the student diversity numbers and the need for a system change approach. Research findings suggests closing the achievement gap is likely if these diverse students 15

16 receive (i) dedicated specific/targeted instruction that meet their specific learning needs, (ii) both class-wide and small group interventions, (iii) supplemental technology learning supports, (iv) interventions based on data-driven decisions about their learning needs, and (v) fidelity to instructional routines and/or practices. Table 12: Area Education Agency Student Population Demographics AEA Enrollment Enroll Low SES Minority IEP Enrollment % % % % Heartland 133,248 28% 38% 26% 11% Grant Wood 67,755 14% 34% 22% 11% AEA ,102 13% 43% 22% 13% Mississippi Bend 46,697 10% 47% 29% 12% Northwest 38,847 8% 49% 30% 12% Green Hills 38,262 8% 47% 12% 13% Great Prairie 34,525 7% 47% 15% 12% Prairie Lakes 29,940 6% 47% 20% 12% Keystone 28,686 6% 38% 13% 13% State 480, % 42% 23% 12% The Iowa School Report Card, which is available at includes information on student proficiency rates in math and reading, student academic growth, narrowing achievement gaps among students, college and career readiness, student attendance, graduation rates, and staff retention. Based on each school s performance over a two-year period, the report card assigns one of six ratings: Exceptional, High-Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement, and Priority. Scores and ratings, which are updated annually, apply only to individual public schools; school districts and nonpublic schools do not receive ratings. For most measures, school ratings are based on data from the and school years. (Iowa Department of Education) Appendix A, page 25, provides more detail regarding report card and process for determining the school rankings. The Iowa School Report Card is not a comprehensive or an accurate reflection of a school. It may reflect the student poverty rate more than the quality of the learning environment. It does, however, provide an indicator to measure teaching and learning progress within area schools. Table 13: 2015 and 2016 Iowa School Report Card Ranking Comparison Ranking MTSS MTSS Schools Percent Schools Percent 9.5% 13.3% Exceptional 3 2.9% 2 1.9% High Performing % 8 7.6% 58.1% 61.9% Commendable % % Acceptable % % 30.5% 19.0% Needs Improvement % % Priority 7 6.7% 8 7.6% 1.9% 5.7% Unable to Rate 6 5.7% 2 1.9% The Iowa School Report Card rankings 2015 and 2016 comparison for public schools within the MBAEA service region is presented in Table 13. The MBAEA ranking average declined from 2015 commendable (64.9) ranking to 2016 acceptable (63.30) ranking. It was a 1.6 point decline. The six rankings score categories are: exceptional = 71 or higher; high performing = 68 to 70.9; commendable = 64.0 to 67.9; 16

17 acceptable = 57.0 to 63.9; needs improvement = 53.0 to 56.9; priority = 0.0 to 52.9; and unable to rate which is insufficient data to calculate the rating for ranking purposes. The Iowa School Report Card is comprised of multiple measures. Appendix A, page 25, has a complete description of the multiple measures. Accredited non-public schools are not ranked because the legislation action only required public schools to be ranked. Table 14 presents the 2015 and 2016 comparison for five of the multiple measures. The other measures were not included because the comparable data set was incomplete and did not provide a clear comparison between 2015 and The Iowa School Report Card provides multiple outcome measures that will increase as a school adopts and sustains an effective learning environment. The report card is another measure of the productivity of the collaborative partnerships and it will be one of many measures used by MBAEA to make critical resources allocations. Table 14: 2015 and 2016 Iowa Report Card Measures Comparison Iowa School Report Card 2015 State of Iowa 2015 MBAEA Average 2016 State of Iowa 2016 MBAEA Average Proficiency Reading & Mathematics The percentage of students scoring proficient or better on reading and mathematics assessments. Annual Expected Growth The percentage of students making a year of academic growth in a year s time on reading and mathematics assessments. College & Career Ready Growth The percentage of students who are making the year-to-year growth necessary to be ready for college and career training by the end of high school. College & Career Readiness The percentage of students who score at or above a level of performance on reading and mathematics assessments that predicts a higher probability of postsecondary success. (Middle/high schools only.) Staff Retention The percentage of teachers, school administrators and other licensed staff members who remained employed in a school over consecutive school years The MBAEA s needs assessment feedback generated six specific findings related to the overarching system change finding. The following specific HIGH PRIORITY teaching and learning service priority recommendations to be addressed by the collaborative partnerships are: a) Implementing MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) within a data team and/or Professional Learning Community setting. 17

18 b) Developing and implementing rigorous and engaging student learning environment. c) Implementing the Iowa Core which includes support for school district Teacher Leadership programs. d) Assisting high schools with programs to ensure post-secondary success for all students. e) Focusing on improving the academic performance, or reducing the achievement gap, of students from poverty and low income households as well as students with disabilities; f) Improving reading/language arts, mathematics, science, and career preparation (evidence-based instruction, rigor and relevance, formative assessment, and summative assessments). Progress with Student Learning Needs 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(1)(2) Progress with Student Learning Needs School Year The recent student achievement trend has been somewhat flat. Low socioeconomic, minority, and students with disability subgroups have also had a somewhat flat trend. An agency priority has been to address this stagnant achievement trend. The primary comprehensive school improvement strategy is utilizing the newly created collaborative partnerships to implement an effective response-to-intervention (MTSS) approach with a Professional Learning Communities. MBAEA is improving the teaching and learning environment so that individual student learning needs are met. Schools that have already initiated this school improvement work have had a reduction in the number of students failing their daily coursework. The preliminary feedback from these partnerships has been positive. Student learning needs are monitored and data are gathered from Iowa Assessments, AEA Student Achievement Data, and LEA CSIPs/APRs. The new literacy FAST system and TIER database are providing additional information to make program and service decisions. Students with disabilities continue to be the lowest performing subgroup and it is a high priority for MBAEA services to schools and school districts. The subgroup three-year performance trends are presented in Table 15. Table 15: Three Year Goal Subgroup Reading, Math & Science Performance Ranking School Year End Proficiencies Subgroup Performance Priority Ranking (Highest Need Listed First) 26% 28% 28% Students with disabilities subgroup reading performance 33% 37% 37% Students with disabilities subgroup mathematics performance 42% 46% 44% Students with disabilities subgroup science performance 60% 60% 59% Minority student subgroup reading performance 61% 62% 60% Low socioeconomic student subgroup reading performance 62% 62% 61% Minority student subgroup mathematics performance 63% 62% 62% Minority student subgroup science performance 64% 65% 63% Low socioeconomic subgroup mathematics performance 65% 65% 64% Low socioeconomic subgroup science performance Learning environment feedback, Iowa Youth Survey, from students (Grades 6, 8, and 11) that provides a climate and culture needs assessment data point is presented in Table 16. The 2016 survey data unfortunately is not available. MBAEA continues to develop its capacity to address climate and culture needs of school and school districts. MBAEA and Iowa Department of Education are partnering together to deliver Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). MBAEA is working to develop a support system to address cultural competency within MBAEA and schools. 18

19 Table 16: Iowa Youth Survey Data February 1, 2017 Annual Progress Report Iowa Youth Survey Data 49% 46% Students indicated adults creating supportive school staff and student environments 68% 68% Students indicated adults communicating school expectations and boundaries 70% 70% Students indicated adults building student capacity to feel self-confident 80% 80% Students indicated adults constructing environments to generate a student commitment to school and learning 2016 Iowa Youth Survey Feedback is not yet available. PBIS implementation has been responsible for reducing student behavior problems and decreasing out-of-school suspensions. PBIS develops the capacity of teachers and administrators to organize an effective school climate that fosters learning for all students. The following schools are receiving PBIS support and coaching: Bennett Elementary School Bettendorf 6 Elementary Schools Columbus Elementary, Middle & High School Central Elementary, Middle School, & High School Clinton Elementary School Davenport High Schools Davenport Intermediate Schools Davenport 14 Elementary Schools Durant Elementary & Middle School Louisa-Muscatine Middle & High Schools Maquoketa 2 Elementary Schools Muscatine 2 Elementary Schools Northeast Elementary School Wilton Elementary School West Liberty Elementary, Middle & High School Progress with Cost Efficiency 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(4)(1) Progress with Cost Efficiency School Year Educational system cost efficiencies are created by Iowa s area education agencies. Area education agencies provide an economy of scale across the state so that schools and school districts may maximize the use of their resources. For example, if local school districts were providing their own Child Find services it would most likely create 3 or 4 special education cooperatives within the current MBAEA service region. These cooperatives most likely have more special education staff, special education administrators, classified staff, facility sites, and central office employees that are currently employed by MBAEA. It is difficult to estimate the savings because the AEA system has operated for more than 40 years. A conservative estimate would be at least a $1 million cost efficiency from the current AEA system. The following are a several additional examples of the cost efficiencies generated by MBAEA: a) MBAEA provides hearing interpreter services for hearing impaired students within their local school and classroom. Individual schools were experiencing difficulty hiring hearing interpreters for only a few students within their district. MBAEA has hired fourteen hearing interpreters serving seven school districts. MBAEA provides hearing interpreter substitutes on days the regular interpreter is unable provide services. Districts often found it difficult to find substitutes. b) MBAEA facilitates an Induction Consortium for Andrew, Central, Columbus, Delwood, and Maquoketa Community School Districts. The consortium is a component of Teacher Leadership program within these districts. 19

20 c) MBAEA has established services to support district networks and systems. The new service is being piloted in the Maquoketa Community School District. These technician services will expand if additional district needs are identified. The service is currently an instructional cost savings to the district. Progress with Timely Services 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(4)(2) Progress with Timely Services School Year Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency (MBAEA) has delivering timely services as a high priority. MBAEA sought to improve its response time by deploying three new Building Collaboration Team Leads to work directly with teachers and administrators within school districts and individual school buildings to identify needs and respond quickly to those needs. The school and school district response to these new team leads has been highly positive. These new leads also continually identify school and school district student learning needs and align those needs to MBAEA services. These leads are also creating collaborative partnerships with schools and school districts that are focused on delivering MBAEA s comprehensive school improvement supports: IDEA Child Find, Special Education Services Early Childhood Services MTSS, Multi-Tiered System of Supports Professional Learning Communities Literacy, Early Literacy Implementation & Iowa Core English/Language Arts Numeracy, Iowa Core Mathematics Science, New Iowa Core Science Standards Student Engagement Learning Supports Teacher Leadership Support Progress with Levels of Customer Participation 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(5)(1) Progress with Levels of Customer Participation School Year The customer participation rate increased from 2015 to Mississippi Bend Area Education had an estimated 85% participation rate in 2015 and an estimated 91% rate in It was a 6% participation rate increase. Schools and school districts including non-public accredited schools as well as birth to age 5 children and families receive Agency services. Agency staff members are engaging in program/service related work every school day (180 school days per school year) providing specialized services to meet the diverse teaching and learning needs of an estimated 4,277 educators and 49,960 students customer participation estimate is based on the Statewide AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey feedback. The participation estimate rate calculation is presented in Table 17. The survey contact frequency responses are used to estimate the customer participation rate annually. The 2016 respondent feedback from the Statewide AEA Satisfaction Survey indicates that an estimated 91% of the educators participated in AEA services (3,853 educators had AEA service contact from a total of 4,239 total educators). The estimated educator participation by district is presented in Table 20

21 17. The estimated participation rate from the 2015 survey was 85%. The development of collaborative partnerships is expected to continue this positive participation trend. The intentional focus of these partnerships is to directly support more teachers and principals in their school improvement efforts. Table 17: MBAEA Program & Service Participation Estimated Educator Participation Frequency Rate SCHOOLS Teachers Certified Administrators Students Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly 1-2 Times Respondent Frequency Rate 7.5% 32% 25% 11% 16% Andrew CSD Bellevue CSD Bennett CSD Bettendorf CSD , Calamus-Wheatland CSD Camanche CSD , Central CSD , Clinton CSD , Columbus CSD Davenport CSD 1, , Delwood CSD Durant CSD Easton Valley CSD Louisa-Muscatine CSD Maquoketa CSD , Muscatine CSD , North Scott CSD , Northeast CSD Pleasant Valley CSD , West Liberty , Wilton CSD Accredited Non-Public Schools , AEA 9 Service Region , Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency provides staff development offerings to meet the professional licensure needs of area teachers and administrators. Staff development also provides school districts with opportunities to connect graduate credit opportunities for their teachers to the district s professional development activities and goals. Staff Development Participation: ,641 educators ,987 educators ,274 educators Traditional staff development offering has changed as MBAEA has embedded professional development within schools. This action has reduced the number of staff development events held within the MBAEA Conference Center. School districts have also experienced a shortage of substitute teachers and 21

22 have found it difficult to release teachers to attend workshops held during the school year. These two factors have impacted staff development participation numbers. MBAEA continues to work with schools and school districts to meet their professional development needs as traditional staff development and graduate credit needs change. The increased attention on collaborative partnerships has changed the nature of participation rates from seeking services as needed to embedded training within a school. Progress with Levels of Customer Satisfaction 281 IAC 72.10(2)(b)(5)(2) Progress with Levels of Customer Satisfaction School Year Customer (teachers and administrators) satisfaction rates remain at high levels. The three-year trend is above 80% satisfaction. Customers (teachers and administrators) within AEA 9 region responded to a statewide AEA customer satisfaction survey. The three-year results from responding educators (survey results represent the percentage of respondents strongly agreeing and agreeing) is presented below. Generally the AEA services that I have received or participated in met my professional needs. 88% 2016 (344 respondents) 89% 2015 (536 respondents) 83% 2014 (753 respondents) The statewide AEA customer satisfaction survey was distributed November 2016 to all educators within the service region. The response rate was 8%. Table 18: Statewide AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey N=387 N=550 AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey Educator Feedback 80.2% 78.1% The AEA helps me meet the needs of students in special education. 65.4% 65.3% The AEA helps me meet the needs of students who are not in special education, but are struggling or have diverse learning needs. 70.8% 65.3% The AEA helps me review and understand data for variety of purposes. 75.4% 67.5% The AEA helps me plan for and/or implement practices to ensure that all students have access to the Iowa Core. 72.7% 68.5% The AEA helps me meet the literacy needs of students. 64.1% 63.5% The AEA helps me meet the math needs of students. 58.8% 57.2% The AEA helps me use technology to improve teaching and learning in my classroom. 62.0% 56.9% The AEA helps me prepare my students to experience success as citizens, in post-secondary education, and the workplace. The past two years a new customized set of survey questions for MBAEA educators have been included in the statewide October 2015 and November 2016 surveys. The survey feedback is presented in Table 18. The new items have focused on gathering feedback regarding the MBAEA reorganization of services to embed MBAEA professionals within school improvement efforts and co-own the accountability for improved student academic performance. The customer feedback was positive and it represents education s challenge of ensuring every student is engaged in rigorous studies using 21st Century skill sets to prepare for a successful postsecondary pathway. 22

23 The aggregate customer satisfaction increase across the eight survey items is 27%. It is positive indicator that restructuring with an emphasis on field leadership and collaborative efforts to meet school and school district needs is being recognized by area schools and school districts. The C4K literacy supports is also a likely contributor to the increased customer satisfaction. Staff Development Customer Satisfaction Feedback: The feedback from staff development participants demonstrates a very high satisfaction rate regarding the professional development courses provided by MBAEA. The positive feedback is provided in Table 19. MBAEA has had a long history of meeting the teaching and learning needs of area schools and school districts. Table 19: Staff Development Participant Satisfaction Staff Development Participant Evaluation Responses: 97% 97% The content was what I expected based on the information in the description/syllabus. 97% 97% The content was of high quality. 98% 98% The content will assist me in improving student learning. 99% 99% The instructor demonstrated competence in content knowledge. 98% 98% The instructor demonstrated competence in planning and preparing. 97% 96% The instructor selected strategies that engaged learners. 96% 96% The facilities and technology were conducive to a quality learning experience. 99% 99% The AEA learning Center employees were helpful, knowledgeable, and courteous. 23

24 AEA Assurances Yes The AEA Chief Administrator has received and approved the AEA Annual Progress Report. Yes The AEA Board President has received and approved the AEA Annual Progress Report. Yes All information required for this AEA APR has been or will be reported to the public districts and non-public school systems. Here is the date(s) that required content was or will be reported to the public districts and non-public school systems. February 10, Yes All information required for this AEA APR has been or will be reported to the local community or general public. Here is the date(s) that required content was or will be reported to the local community or general public. February 10, AEA Information Current Authorized Agency: Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency st Street Bettendorf, IA Primary AEA-APR Contact Name: Dr. Edward Gronlund Title: Executive Director Telephone: (563) Extension: 6315 Fax: (563) Iowa Department of Education has waived the annual progress reporting requirement for area education agencies. The Department has requested that area education agencies continue to annually report to their constituencies. The Department will set reporting criteria and dates for area education agencies after the Department has completed and submitted its Every Child Succeeds Act (ESSA) application to the U. S. Department of Education. 24

25 APPENDIX A Iowa School Report Card Iowa Department of Education The following Iowa School Report Card description is a direct quote from the Iowa Department of Education website. What is the Iowa School Report Card? The Iowa School Report Card is a new system to show how each public school is performing on certain educational measures. The system assigns schools one of six overall ratings: Exceptional, High- Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement, and Priority. The ratings are based on each school s performance over a two-year period on up to eight educational measures. The Iowa School Report Card was developed by the Iowa Department of Education. The site meets a legislative requirement and aligns with Department efforts to provide Iowans easier access to meaningful education statistics and to pair accountability and support for schools. The ratings are based on the following educational measures: Proficiency: The percentage of students scoring proficient or better on reading and mathematics assessments. College and Career-Ready Growth: The percentage of students who are making the year-to-year growth necessary to be ready for college and career training by the end of high school. Annual Expected Growth: The percentage of students making a year of academic growth in a year s time on reading and mathematics assessments. Closing Achievement Gap:A measure that reflects a statewide goal of narrowing the gap in achievement for students with disabilities, students who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, and English Language Learners. College and Career Readiness: The percentage of students who score at or above a level of performance on reading and mathematics assessments that predicts a higher probability of postsecondary success. (Middle/high schools only.) Graduation Rate: The percentage of ninth-grade students who finished high school within five years. (High schools only.) Attendance: The average daily attendance of students, which is the total number of days students were enrolled and present divided by the total number of possible attendance days. Staff Retention: The percentage of teachers, school administrators and other licensed staff members who remained employed in a school over consecutive school years. The Iowa s School Report Card (SRC) is comprised of multiple measures which are combined to determine an overall performance rating. Iowa Schools are categorized into one of six performance categories: Exceptional, High Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement and Priority. The SRC includes eight measures: Academic Proficiency Closing the Achievement Gap Annual Growth 25

26 College and Career Ready Growth On-Track for College Readiness Graduation Rate Average Daily Attendance Staff Retention Each of the measures has a value between 0 and 100 and is then multiplied by a weight amount, producing a score for each measure. The weighting is a value assigned to each indicator. The score for each measure is determined and then all measures are added together to create an overall score. Of the eight measures included in the SRC, all but one is a percentage which ranges from 0 to 100. For example, an elementary school which has annual growth rate of 60% has a majority of students making yearto-year progress in both Reading and Math. In this example, the natural score of 60% would be used in the calculation to determine the score for this measure. This is important because any improvement in this measure in future years would be reflected in an increase in the overall score for this school. A school's annual growth score would be multiplied by the weighting percent for that measure to get the overall score. In this example, this elementary school would receive 8.58 points for the annual growth measure. Growth score multiplied by weighting value equals total points: 60 x.143 = 8.58 points. The only exception to the 0 to 100 score is the Closing the Achievement Gap score. More detailed information about this score can be found in the technical guide listed under the More Information section of this website. The below breakdown shows the final weight for each measure at each school level: Interpreting Scores An overall school rating does not provide contextual information about a school nor does it make a conclusion about the quality of the staff or provide important information about ongoing work to raise student achievement. The report card should create a constructive dialog between educators, administrators and parents about the work that is currently under way in the school to support all students in achieving their full potential. 26