August 6, 2008

When it comes to academic performance, what does Mounds View have in common with the Edina, Orono, Minnetonka and Wayzata school districts?
* All are consistently among the Top 10 metro districts for student achievement.
* All have schools that have missed No Child Left Behind’s adequate yearly progress goals.

You might recall that for five consecutive years, all of Mounds View’s traditional schools met the federal NCLB requirements for making AYP – a distinction shared by only a handful of the Metro 50 districts. However this year Mounds View joined the growing list of high-performing school districts that did not meet some proficiency targets. In Mounds View, seven of our 11 traditional schools fell into this category. To view all of our schools’ reports, please visit the Minnesota Department of Education web site at http://education.state.mn.us/ReportCard2005/index.do.

What this means
Based on the results of one test, a handful of students who represent at least one of nine demographic categories in these seven schools did not meet increasingly demanding goals. These groups include:
* All students
* American Indian/Alaskan native students
* Asian/Pacific Islander students
* Hispanic students
* Black students, not of Hispanic origin
* White, not of Hispanic origin students
* Students with Limited English Proficiency
* Special Education students
* Students who qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch prices

What this does not mean
This does not mean any of our schools are underperforming as a whole. Consider:

* Several schools distinguished themselves with significantly impressive overall scores, including our high schools with their metro-topping rankings for the highest percentage of 11th grade students who were proficient in math (Mounds View, #1; Irondale, #4).
* The majority of Mounds View students continue to out perform grade-level peers in the state.
* Almost all grade levels show an increase in the percentage of students who are proficient.

So what should our community make of this news? During the previous five years, we tempered our pride in meeting the NCLB requirements because they reflected student performance on one state test. In the same way, we should temper our concern now. Public opinion surveys consistently show overwhelming skepticism of the NCLB act’s integrity and an increasing public belief that this federal act does not present a fair picture of a school’s performance.

Multiple measures, over time
Despite the public’s lack of faith in NCLB, we do find some value in the information provided by state testing, and our schools will remain committed to reducing the performance gap that exists between certain groups of students. We’ll do this by continuing to refine our intervention programs and personally target students who need extra help. But it’s equally important to note that we are committed to our own district-administered testing that does not rely entirely on one exam. Instead, our teachers administer a variety of useful assessments that measure ongoing progress for individual students. This gives classroom teachers valuable, student-specific information they can use to modify teaching methods to improve achievement.

With or without the NCLB act, be assured that my vision for Mounds View Public Schools is to hold high expectations for all students and to inspire outstanding achievement. I’m certain that this goal will keep Mounds View in good company among the Top 10 districts in the metro for many years to come.