MAKING THE GRADE

Even before the state released the Oklahoma School Report Cards, administrators and staff at Kingfi sher Public Schools were at work on plans to continually improve the district from the youngest grades to the oldest.

Although the report cards, which were released in late November, are based on data that continues to evolve, there were some obvious areas for improvement.

How the district fared

The Oklahoma School Report Card doesn’t administer grades to the overall district, but rather at its individual schools.

For Kingfisher, that’s Gilmour Elementary (pre-kindergarten-second grades), Heritage School (third and fourth grades), Kingfisher Middle School (fifth-eighth grades) and Kingfisher High School (ninth-12th grades).

Heritage and KMS earned an overall grade of “B” and were above the state average, according to the results.

The high school earned a “C” and was at the state average.

(Note: Gilmour Elementary didn’t receive an overall grade because students at those grade levels have yet to take some of the assessments necessary in determining the overall grade.)

Grades are based on different indicators at each campus. At the high school level, those indicators are academic achievement, ELP (English Language Profi ciency) progress, chronic absenteeism, graduation rates and postsecondary opportunities.

Indicators at the other schools are the same, plus an academic growth measurement and minus postsecondary opportunities and graduation rates.

One of the grades that raised the most eyebrows was a “D” in academic achievement for the high school, which is also what the state scored overall.

This score is based solely on students taking a mandated ACT test in April of their junior year and, according to the Oklahoma School Report Card website, measures how prepared students are for the “next grade, course or level.”

The website said 36.1 percent of KHS students met or exceeded their state-level target. The state average was 39.1 percent (the entire KPS district score was 57 percent).

KHS juniors last year who were listed as college-bound had a composite score of 21.6 while non-college bound students’ average was 14.34.

The district’s approach

“I think we need to reiterate that we did not like the drop in ACT scores at KHS, but let’s not forget all the good things going on that make our school so successful,” KPS Superintendent Jason Sternberger said.

“We are addressing the situation with both short-term and long-term solutions effective immediately. We are not going to be complacent, accept the scores and move on with no pro-active response.”

Administrators discussed some of the potential steps for improvement during the December 2019 meeting of the Kingfisher Board of Education and will present a more comprehensive plan at the February meeting.

“The principals and I have been researching most of these programs for the last year, so this has been on our minds as well,” Sternberger said.

The plan includes areas of action that will be implemented this year at Kingfisher High School as well as others that will be put into place in the future.

Immediate fi xes

KHS Principal Todd Overstreet and counselor Paula Leffingwell have already signed up to attend an ACT data interpretation workshop designed to provide them a better understanding of how to assess strengths and weaknesses of results.

“It will offer suggestions for a short-term fix and also a long-term one,” Sternberger said.

KHS and Kingfi sher Middle School staff will begin having departmental meetings twice a month to help with both horizontal and vertical curriculum alignment, a practice already in place by the KHS science department.

The high school will also offer an additional ACT prep course for interested juniors. It will be an online curriculum facilitated by a high school teacher and will be before or after school depending on students’ needs.

There will be a focus on the English Language Learners (ELL) group at KHS and create a reward system for students who exit out of the program.

Long-term fi xes

All administrators agreed that reading comprehension and fl uency were at the core of testing well in all subject matters.

With that in mind, they discussed at the December 2019 meeting the hiring of a reading specialist for elementary students to help begin the remediation process in this area at an early age.

That position is expected to be sent to the board of education for approval at a future date.

Staff also want to familiarize students with the ACT at an earlier age.

“Some of our students don’t take the ACT until it’s mandated on the national test date,” Sternberger said. “That would be the fi rst time they have taken a standardized timed test for KPS.”

With that in mind, administrators plan to work with the KHS and KMS staffs to incorporate ACT Aspire Assessment System in grades 4-10.

“Essentially, this is an assessment tool that gives us evidence-based results and information on students,” said KHS Principal Todd Overstreet. “If a student is struggling in a certain area, this will help us develop a remediation plan.”

ACT Aspire covers English, math, reading, science and direct writing.

“I feel this will be beneficial for us moving forward more than anything,” Over-street said. “It will be a benefi t at the lower buildings, but also is helping us once they get to high school.”

This tool won’t replace any other curriculum.

“This will not change what we are teaching, but be another resource to make sure kids get used to the language of tests,” Sternberger said.

Administrators are also looking at mandating an ACT prep course for juniors, one that would be required for graduation. That, too, would be subject to board approval.

“The course will focus on testing strategies and skills needed to improve ACT test scores,” Sternberger said.

The improvement plan isn’t just for reading comprehension and fl uency.

Sternberger recommends re-instituting STAR Math Assessment. This program would be used for students beginning in first grade all the way through high school.

In grades 1-4, STAR Math Assessment scores would be used for early detection of students missing in academic skills and allow staff to create a plan of remediation.

The assessment is aligned with the Oklahoma Academic Standards and would provide accurate predictors of Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP) exams.

STAR scores could be used to identify early in the year the students who would likely miss math yearly progress goals and make adjustments to instruction before end-of-year tests.

IXL Learning is a technology program designed to help students who need remediation in a number of subject areas. It’s already being used at KMS and administrators would like to implement it at the high school level as well.

Sternberger and his staff are also exploring the use of PlanBook.com by all teachers who are in testing subjects and are also researching ongoing professional development programs for teachers.

“We are looking into programs that will help increase student performance, build teacher confidence and improve school morale,” Stern-berger said.

Despite numerous upgrades and improvements on all the campuses, major projects in the works and continued achievements of KPS students in and out of the classroom, Sternberger said he and his staff know fully well the perception of the released grades. It’s a perception he’s confi dent will change.

“I’m aware there is some criticism of the score,” he said. “But I know our staff will rise to the challenge because we still have great teachers who work very hard and take great pride in their jobs.”