Madisonville Messenger, Jan. 15, 2012
State evaluates school district, Central
By Erin Schmitt
Hopkins County Schools is awaiting a state-issued report for recommendations on how to improve test scores at Hopkins County Central.
Two district leadership assessment teams visited Hopkins County this past week for an intensive evaluation of the school district and Central’s education practices.
The teams were sent by the Kentucky Department of Education, which identified Central in October as a persistently low-achieving school. Schools that fail to meet all goals under the No Child Left Behind Act for three consecutive years are considered persistently-low achieving.
“Just the designation as a persistently-low achieving school carries with it a stigma to have that title, and none of us is proud of that,” said Jason Clark, director of middle/high school education and assessment for Hopkins County Schools. “However, because of that designation, we are going to have the state come down and say, ‘this is what we see, this is what is working, this is what we think you can improve upon.’ ”
The teams were made up of retired educators, retired superintendents and parent representatives who have received specialized training from the state.
The assessment teams evaluated the district and Central using the Standards and Indicators for School Improvement document, Clark said. There are 88 indicators falling under nine standards the district was measured on and 55 indicators for Central.
“They are each assigned a different standard, so each one had a specific piece of the puzzle that they were evaluating,” he said.
There are four measurements, 1-4, that are akin to novice to distinguished for state scores. The goal is to be a least a 3, which is the equivalent of proficient, on each indicator, said Clark.
A 10-member team led by Dr. Betty Fox conducted extensive interviews and evaluations at Central, said principal Tommy Burrough. Administrators, teachers and staff and parents met with the team throughout the week.
“They were really, really helpful and very pleasant to work with,” he said. “It wasn’t a threatening time. We were open, and they were here to give us some extra help, to see if they see things that we haven’t seen.”
The school provided documentation, including lesson plans, student artifacts and pacing guides to the district teams to assess. The team also went over Central’s school improvement plan, Burrough said.
Central became accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools last year, so it had already developed a new improvement plan based on that review. In their exit interview, Burrough said the state assessment team said that the improvement plan was one indication that Central was on the right track.
Burrough said students and faculty have really stepped up and have been working rigorously to succeed.
People have also approached him about starting a parent community committee at the school, Burrough said.
“We would love to have more community involvement,” he said. “It takes a village to raise a child. That’s what we want.”
While the teams look at the global picture for Central, taking into account classroom instruction, the site-based council and school policies, the focal point is on the leadership of Burrough, Clark said.
It’s much the same at the district office, where the focus is on the leadership of Superintendent James Lee Stevens, he said.
Administrators at the district office also went through long interviews filled with targeted questions this week, said Assistant Superintendent Linda Zellich, adding that the team tried to make them feel comfortable and at ease.
Once the interviews were concluded, the team checked through the documentation to see that there was at least three pieces of evidence matching answers given by the administrators, she said. If there was a conflict, the team called the administrators back for clarification or asked them to explain their answers further.
The district team also interviewed a panel of community members selected by Hopkins County Schools. The cross section of community members included business leaders, police, health care professionals and others who have dealings with the school system, Clark said.
The process of preparing documentation was enlightening and eye-opening, Zellich said. There are some improvements to be made, and she said the central office is anxious to hear what the assessment team puts in its report.
Recommendations will be welcomed, she said.
“It’s like going to the doctor for a physical,” Zellich said. “If you’ve got something that is not exactly working right, you want him to tell you so you can do something about it.”
Zellich said she thinks there are certain areas in which the district needs to be more proactive and take a harder stance. The report should help outline these areas that need to be targeted to improve student achievement, she said.
A school must meet annual measurable objectives for math and reading under No Child Left Behind in two out of three years to no longer be determined persistently low-achieving, Clark said.
Testing formats have change yearly in Kentucky, and this year is no exception, Zellich said. Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) is obsolete and now state schools will be measured by Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP).
Just what is needed to achieve at least a proficient score is not yet known, Clark said, but the state will use the K-PREP scores to measure Central’s and the district’s progress.
The assessment teams’ report should be issued in about three weeks, Clark said. It has to first be submitted to Dr. Terry Holliday, Kentucky’s commissioner of education, for his approval.
“The feedback that we get will be the things that we know that we need to do to improve the academic performance at Hopkins County Central and districtwide as well,” he said.
There are four turnaround models, Clark said. Restaffing entails removing Central’s principal and 50 percent of the staff.
Transformation requires a plan to meet achievement goals and tie student achievement to teacher evaluations. The last two options are to have an independent organization take over Central or to close the school.
The district has different models that determine whether or not it has the capacity lead a school in the turnaround process, Clark said.