Not too shabby

How many are wondering how Sun Prairie High really ranks against its peers?  Did anyone look?  How many can't wait until November 7th to get past all these ads?

Well we took a look at the "report card" data for comparable high schools.  Now, Dr. Culver would want us to state clearly what comparable we seek.  So...to be clear...we are NOT going to compare Sun Prairie High to other Dane Co. schools.  There's simply far too much variability there for any comparison to be worthwhile.

Instead we looked at the 20 school districts closest in size to Sun Prairie in terms of total enrollment.   These will be moderate to large sized cities who, at least in  theory, face many of the same challenges as Sun Prairie.   For the record, there is a school board policy which states that administrator salary ranges are to be based on averages from the 14 school districts closest in size to Sun Prairie.  We figure that if it's a good enough basis for administrator salaries, it must be good for student performance...right?

So...ho did we fare?  Not too shabby. 6th out of 31 high schools to be exact.  That's really pretty good...so why don't we have more National Merit scholars?

We looked at the data to see if there were any significant correlations between accountability scores and  school enrollment (NO!), percent of minority students (inverse correlation, statistically significant), and percentage of socio-economically disadvantaged kids (inverse correlation, extreme statistical significance).

As the clock ticks ever closer towards election day, perhaps one measure of a candidate's strength is the ability to fight poverty.  Coming in a very close second is the likelihood that a candidate will properly fund schools to deal with achievement gaps.

Here's a tip...making the rich richer is not part of the equation.

Another "Top" List We Did Not Make

In case you haven't heard yet, U.S. News and World Report released its most recent assessment of top performing high schools across the nation.  You can look, but you won't find Sun Prairie on the list.  You WILL see, however, a few high schools you may recognize on that list:

Janesville Parker ranked 19th in the state: http://www.channel3000.com/education/Janesville-Parker-High-School-ranked-in-magazine-s-list-of-top-schools/-/1624/13126812/-/114wa28/-/index.html

• Milwaukee's Rufus King ranked #1, and is ranked #130 in the nation.
• Eau Claire Memorial ranked #3 statewide, and is nationally ranked.
• Even itty bitty Lancaster high ranked 4th.
• Green Bay Preble and Appleton West also ranked in the top 10.

The process used--a pretty comprehensive one-- is summarized below.  You can see that we likely would have passed Step 3...had we gotten there.  Which means we didn't pass Step 2.  But what's worse, if you look at the data, is that we didn't even make it past Step 1 (achievement).

Step 1 of the rankings aimed to identify high schools that performed above expectations, controlling for the proportion of economically disadvantaged students.


Step 2 identified high schools in which disadvantaged students—defined as Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, or economically disadvantaged as determined by state criteria (often defined as students eligible for free or reduced price lunch through the National School Lunch Program)—had combined reading and mathematics proficiency levels that were at least equal to the state’s combined reading and mathematics proficiency levels for those disadvantaged student groups. The purpose of Step 2 was to make sure that high schools progressing to Step 3 successfully educated all students, regardless of their socioeconomic or ethnic backgrounds.
High schools with disadvantaged student subgroups that performed as well as or better than the state average advanced to Step 3. That is, all high schools that had a value of 0 or higher for the disadvantaged student proficiency gap differential passed Step 2.


Step 3 of the analysis measured the extent to which students were prepared for college-level work. The college readiness index—created for the “Best High Schools” rankings—accounted for student participation in and performance on AP (Advanced Placement) or IB (International Baccalaureate)  exams.


High schools that passed Step 1 and Step 2 and either (a) participated in AP and/or IB programs but did not meet the predetermined college readiness index threshold of 16.2844 or (b) did not participate in AP and IB programs were awarded bronze medals. High schools that passed Step 1 and Step 2 and met or exceeded the college readiness index threshold were awarded silver or gold medals.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin/districts/sun-prairie-area-school-district/sun-prairie-high-21919

Was he Nuts? or Genius?

This past Thursday's school board work study session, despite being a standing room only affair, was mostly ho-hum typically board fest. Sure, the board asked some great questions to --for appearances sake anyway--effect some much needed change in the budget. But when it was all said and done, no one supported anything other than the status quo.

That is until late in the meeting when ole AlBert Slane finally took the governor off and let 'er rip.

In a relatively lengthy monologue, AlBert offered the following decidedly non-vanilla opinions:

• I'd like to see us bring the budget back further (i.e., budget more than $600K under the revenue limit)
• combine grade levels or cut SAGE to do something different
• If we did away with SAGE, all class sizes at all 7 elementary schools would be lower
• why is the class size for high school the same as for 5th grade?
• instead of poverty, can we match classes to kids' level
  

Oh, how the scuttle was butting after the meeting broke up. Some thought Slane may have slit his own throat by making the comments he did. Quietly, however, some said that Slane wasn't too far off the mark.

We'll go one further. We applaud Slane fully and resoundingly for finally being a board member who put down the Board Kool-Aid, was not afraid to truly speak his peace, and --more importantly -- for demonstrating some clearly outside-the-box thinking. That's the chutzpa we need on our school board folks. Refuse to drink the Kool-Aid and check your Sun Prairie District Administration Fan Club card at the door.

Were Slane's ideas wack?
The biggest risk AlBert took Thursday night was when he talked about some new ways of dealing with the learning gap between kids. The SAGE program was kindof supposed to address that. Tim Culver will present some data that supports the value of SAGE, but like most statistics, there are other parameters NOT being shown that would suggest that we aren't gaining much -if any--ground with SAGE.

Slane talked about the complaints that he's heard from staff, that "Teachers feel the need to teach to the lowest common denominator".

When it comes to a subject like math, for example, if Jimmy is at level D, Philbert at level C, Timmy at level B, and Davy at level A, how does a teacher teach all four kids? S/he can't teach to Davy's abilities (level A) because 3 of the 4 might be lost. If s/he teaches at Jimmy's level (D), however, 3 of the four will get bored and start shooting spitballs into MaryEllen's hair. And you know how that ends.

Slane posited that if kids were grouped by ability rather than poverty, each class would be allowed to make greater progress because teachers would not have to teach at many different levels.

Already being done and there's a name for it
Newsflash...the model of which AlBert spoke is really no different that the "TAG" (Talented And Gifted" "program". With "TAG", those kids that are more advanced are pulled out of their classes and challenged in smaller independent groups.

This is most definitely not a new concept. It's called "ability grouping" or "tracking" and, like everything --including SAGE - there are both PROponents and opponents. Proponents believe that single level/ability classrooms make for more effective learning and actually lower achievement gaps. Opponents typically argue chiefly that "tracking" is tantamount to discrimination and racism as it borders on segregation.

We won't take any more of your valuable time here, but if you have an interest, here are several good links that discuss the concept. And, unlike Tim Culver, we show you BOTH sides of the argument.

Excellent PowerPoint Summary on Tracking Issue by Northeastern Illinois University

Education Week Issues: Tracking

Education World: Is Ability Grouping the Way to Go --Or Should It Go Away?

National Education Association (NEA) on Tracking

So let's not be so quick to toss ole AlBert under the bus. Actually, he should get a gold star and an extra twinkie at snack time for actually going off the board packet and doing some research on the issue.

SP-EYE's take
Well done, AlBert! It was nice to not see just 7 talking heads that all sound like the parents in a Charlie Brown cartoon [Wonk...wonk...wonk]. Slane presented some ideas that this board needs to seriously explore. Of course, in order to do so, they have to say "NO" to the Kool-Aid, put away that rubber stamp, and THINK independently.