Study Session - SRCS Board of Education
San Rafael City Schools
September 17, 2018 4:00PM
Central Services - Boardroom
310 Nova Albion Way
San Rafael, CA 94903
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| President Knell convened the Special Meeting to Public Session at 4:08 PM. |
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| Peter Gebbie, SRHS parent: regarding minutes from the last 3 meetings not being posted yet; staff advised him that minutes are not official, and therefore not posted until after the Board has approved them. The minutes in question were on this agenda for Board approval. |
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Dr. Mayra Perez and Data Analyst Marie Henrio will present data for the Board's information.
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Dr. Watenpaugh introduced the first of several data presentations and study sessions to provide the Board and members of the community a 'snapshot' of our student performance data. The District continues to hone the multiple measures used to guide student learning. This study session will provide trend data for graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, progress of our English Learners (noting the diagnostic instrument is now ELPAC), reclassification trends, and Fountas and Pinnell balanced literacy assessments that teachers in the elementary district are now conducting three times over the course of the school year.
Dr. Watenpaugh acknowledged the efforts of the Education Services team. The Superintendent highlighted the contributions of the district's Data Analyst, Marie Henrio. He noted Ms. Henrio's background and experiences working with raw data that becomes clear and understandable for all stakeholder groups. Ms. Henrio continues to drill down into the District's assessment data, going beyond how the State interprets and reports data.
In August, all site principals met with Dr. Perez and Ms. Henrio to review the assessment data from their site. Data was presented in a manner that each principal could replicate and make a data presentation to their school staff.
Data Analyst Marie Henrio presented the data charts:
High School Graduation Data:
- 16/17 graduation rate data for the state was released 8 months late; changes were made in students who were left in the cohort between 15/16 and 16/17; the impact was with students transferred to adult education programs, in the past they were not counted at all.
Ms. Henrio responded to President Knell's questions about the cohort starting in the 9th grade. Dr. Watenpaugh noted the definition of drop-out changed; impacting the district by about 3%. The trend over the last 5 years would have been a drop. The only way a student can leave a cohort is if they move to another district.
- 16/17 graduation rate was reviewed by demographics/student groups - every student group dropped; reviewed data for long term EL student data, newcomer and reclassified. Trustee Llorens Gulati commented on the number of years it takes to reclassify, suggesting staff look at K-12 metrics for reclassified and newcomer students to see the evolution of the student, and asking for ESD data. Mr. Henrio noted more data will be shared in the series of presentations this year.
Chronic Absenteeism:
- Chronic absenteeism between March and June went up; working with K and HS, looking at that time frame to see what happens at the end of the year; State data reflects similar numbers. In response to Trustee Knell's observation that since 2016 between freshman and sophomore years the rate doubles, Principal Dennis commented that the teen culture with students becoming more independent as they age and classes getting harder may be the reason why. There was discussion about the rise of absenteeism in the 4th quarter that could have to do with sickness, unexcused or no independent study contract, and the need for better messaging to parents about the independent study contract process for absences. In response to Trustee LLorens Gulati's suggestion to look at students as they move from elementary to high school, Mr. Henrio noted that staff are flagging students with absenteeism issues in the 5th and 6th grades so sites know who to watch. President Knell suggested tracking the stability of students who have housing, socio-economic difficulties. Ms. Henrio noted that one indicator is the homeless program. Dr. Perez added that staff have to keep the student information confidential, and are looking at the numbers.
P-5 Fountas and Pinell Balanced Literacy Assessment:
- Fountas and Pinell is a tool used to track student academic growth in letters on a scale from A-Z; reviewed progress of students who received 3 tests last year - a group that was struggling and had to take the test 3 times; based on the data, K and 2nd grades are not making big growth. Director Stephanie Kloos responded to trustee questions to provide clarification to their understanding of the chart, and what staff can glean from the information - that 3rd grade reading is on grade level, which is an important indicator; schools are on the right track. In response to Trustee Llorens Gulati comments about inclusion of summer program growth and credit recovery, and the need to serve more students in the summer program, Dr. Perez noted that the additional 19 days of summer program does not tell the whole story - if the teacher changes over summer we don't know if we are seeing the same progress, and staff are working on potentially increasing the number of students served.
English Learners CELDT data:
- EL indicators and the trend observed over the last 8 years of CELDT data was reviewed: compared to State data, SRCS students start out lower than the State, but finish above the State in the ESD. With the change in State assessment from CELDT to ELPAC, staff will need to figure out how we move data from one to the other. Ms. Kloos noted the expectation was to grow a level a year in CELDT, but that does not take newcomers into consideration; we are seeing progress in what were are doing in EL with students. In response to Trustee Llorens Gulati's request to look at data for MS and HS, Ms. Henrio noted that transition years are monitored, from 5th to 6th, from 8th to 9th. Ms. Kloos noted when looking at MS CELDT, it is important to track when those students came into the district anywhere from 2nd to 5th grade. In response to Trustee Llorens Gulati's comment about keeping in mind some students may not have computers at home, Dr. Perez noted that the ELPAC is still done with paper/pencil.
Reclassification Rates:
- Reclassification rates: Ms. Henrio noted there was no reclassification that happened in the HSD in 15/16, but there was catch up done in 16/17. There was a nice distribution of reclassification across all grades, but there were a lot of 5th graders before they move on to 6th grade. Principal Marcucci noted there is a lot that happens in the 5th grade because staff want to make sure students have access to an elective. In response to President Knell's question about what is being done to address long term ELs from 2nd to 12th grade, Principal Dennis noted that specific courses are trying to address the needs of those students; school is hard for these students, reading is a challenge, and special education plays a factor in HS as well. Principal Marcucci noted that long term ELL was the most disengaged group at DMS so there was a culture shift that was initiated with efforts to make school more enjoyable for these students - pairing extended English class with an elective. Trustee Llorens Gulati inquired about math. Ms. Kloos noted the Illuminate platform, which mirrors the SBAC, is used in grades 2-5 for EL in math as a 'dipstick.' She noted the math professional development that SRTA has agreed to this year.
Staff and Board members responded to Mr. Gebbie's questions and comments about the data and concerns with what it is showing for EL and students in the 2nd and 3rd grades. Dr. Perez explained that language acquisition is a difficult process, unique for each child; despite what the State's expectations are, it can sometimes take 5-7 years based on the individual. Trustee Llorens Gulati pointed out that the data shows looking at 5th graders, they do catch up through the years. She also noted as an English learner, there are other ways to learn language such as with electives so students can be passionate about learning.
Dr. Watenpaugh noted staff will use this data to help assess what is working and what is not. |
Data Presentation - REV
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| There being no further business, President Knell adjourned the meeting at 5:25 PM. |
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| Present | Linda M. Jackson |
| Present | Rachel Kertz |
| Present | Greg Knell |
| Present | Maika Llorens Gulati |
| Present | Natu Tuatagaloa |
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