While there is good news to tell about Wicomico students’ progress on state assessments, as a system, the Wicomico County Public Schools did not meet the increasingly challenging state targets for improvement in 2010 and did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
The state must identify for School Improvement any school system that does not meet the Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) for two consecutive years in the same reported area for the elementary, middle and high school levels. Wicomico is in System Improvement Year 1, which will require the system to provide information to the state on how it plans to exit System Improvement status and to set aside 10 percent of its regular Title I allocation for professional development.
System AYP status was one of a number of new pieces of information, along with high school AYP and HSA (High School Assessment) results, made available on mdreportcard.org. Data for elementary and middle schools on AYP and the MSA (Maryland School Assessment) for 2010 were released last summer and were already available.
Many Wicomico schools made AYP in 2010. In elementary, schools making AYP included Northwestern Elementary, a Maryland and National Blue Ribbon School, and Beaver Run Elementary, Delmar Elementary, East Salisbury Elementary, Fruitland Intermediate, North Salisbury Elementary, Pemberton Elementary, Pinehurst Elementary, West Salisbury Elementary, Westside Primary, Westside Intermediate and Willards Elementary. At the secondary level, Mardela Middle and High and Salisbury Middle met AYP. Wicomico County was pleased this year to have Salisbury Middle make the progress needed in two consecutive years to exit School Improvement.
At the high school level, Wicomico is meeting the challenge of ensuring that no student is denied a diploma due only to not meeting the state’s HSA requirement, said Dr. John Fredericksen, Superintendent of Schools. In the two years in which students have been required to fulfill the HSA requirement to graduate, every Wicomico student who also met the other graduation requirements (for service-learning hours and credits earned), met the state HSA requirement by passing all four tests, achieving a combined score of 1602, or completing one or more approved Bridge projects.
A student who meets the HSA requirement by the 1602 combined score or Bridge projects is considered to be at Basic level on the HSA, however. That is a factor in some of the high schools not making AYP because the goal is to have all students scoring at the Proficient or Advanced levels by 2014 in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act. James M. Bennett High, Parkside High and Wicomico High all missed the state target for percentage of students at Proficient or higher in one or more subgroups. All three schools have been identified for local attention this year.
At the middle school level, the challenge to improve remains for some schools. Wicomico Middle, in year 4 as a Comprehensive Needs School, is engaged in comprehensive planning and restructuring. Bennett Middle is in Year 1 as a Developing Comprehensive Needs School. These are the only two Wicomico schools in School Improvement.
At the elementary and elementary/middle level, five schools did not make AYP and have been identified for local attention this year. Those schools are Charles H. Chipman Elementary, Fruitland Primary, Glen Avenue Elementary, Prince Street Elementary, and Pittsville Elementary and Middle.
One-third of Maryland’s school systems, including Wicomico, are in School Improvement. Statewide, 68 percent of Maryland schools met AYP this year and 32 percent did not. At the high school level, 61.3 percent met AYP and 38 percent did not. In Wicomico, 14 schools (58 percent) met AYP and 10 (42 percent) did not. Wicomico shared in the statewide trait of having difficulty ensuring that students in the Special Education subgroup score Proficient or higher. When Maryland schools did not make AYP, 79 percent of the time the schools did not make AYP for the Special Education subgroup, according to MSDE.
Statewide, the graduation rate increased and the dropout rate fell to an 11-year low. In Wicomico, the dropout rate declined for a second straight year. The graduation rate increased for the second straight year but did not increase enough to make the AMO.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
5 comments:
Now we know why Freddy is trying to do away with that magnet program for the really bright kids.
Any idea of why a teacher was let go at Prince Street?
This is pathetic with the amount of tax dollars going into the education system. Talk about total incompetence in the WBOE and the Teacher classifications. Fire the WBOE Administrators and put in responsible indiviuals that are willing to take a tough stand on educating our young people and not Politics or Politically correctness. Salaries should cut by 33% and no type of pay raises and benefits until our educational system improves. Fire the incompetent ones. Your call Mr, County Executive, or are you satisfied with these reports? Your actions for immediate improvement will tell the Tax Payer where you stand on education of our young people.
There is something called Safe Harbor for schools that improved some but not to the required level. Lots of the ones listed in this article as making AYP are in Safe Harbor and did not meet the AYP standards.
Dr. Fredericksen opposes all appeals made by parents. He thinks appeals are horrible things. Wonder why he doesn't feel the same way about counties that appeal AYP results.
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