Assessment-Based School Improvements
(Response to question six)
In tenet four, Enid Public Schools reveals its proposed plan to share and aggregate data across core district applications. Within this application, a strategy has been developed in phase two of the STAR implementation process to provide a single point of entry to a web-based, district-wide data warehouse using an Open Standards platform portal to retrieve and review pertinent data for constituent needs.
The procedural development of real-time benchmark assessment strategies intended for measuring and analyzing real-time cumulative student growth is a simple process that will be achieved by using software packages currently available on all computers in the Enid district. One example of a school software program that will be used to develop real-time tracking of curriculum delivery is the utilization of a Student Response System (SRS), also known as the ‘Clicker.’ The SRS or ‘Clicker’ is similar to a remote control or calculator by which it employs either infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) technology. The ‘Clicker’ serves immediate feedback to a student response and provides the teacher with prompt student-progress information. Student progress on district designed benchmark assessments will be measured quarterly in grades five, seven, eight, nine, and eleven using the SRS method.
Tenet four, ‘Data Driven Applications,’ involves frequency decisions on retrieval and dissemination of information. The frequency for data retrieval will be designed in such a way that assimilation of data is reported within relative short periods of time. The frequency for data retrieval from individual instructors will be instantaneous and district reporting to curriculum consultants will not extend beyond a one-week period of time.
The information obtained from individual teacher assessments will be transferred to a district-level, data collection server to map curriculum progression. Data gained from this type of mapping program would give teachers real-time benchmarks highlighting the academic skills requiring further reinforcement prior to year-end assessment.
Identifying Student Performance In Key Content Areas
The identification and understanding of curriculum standards in key content areas is an important process in the improvement of student learning. The Enid Public School District presently employs a model using Comprehend Software technology to track the performance of students in specific content areas. Comprehend Software allows teachers and principals to retrieve information regarding the trends in content strengths/weaknesses and to determine gaps in learning across specific subject areas.
Presently, the Comprehend Software has become a powerful tool by allowing teachers and administrators access to individual, school, and district testing performance results by sub-groups, mobility, and demographics. The Comprehend Software assessment tool has been made available through the counselor’s office in each of Enid’s fifteen school sites. To access a three-year accumulative profile of student assessment information, teachers must sign a ‘Disclosure of Access’ request form also located in the counselor’s office.
In the near future, student information generated from the Comprehend Software will be stored in an Academic Data Warehouse (ADW) using SIF/ZIS architecture through which our district will be able to identify content standards. The data compiled will assist teachers with the information necessary to align specific learning standards in a priority order through content-analysis reports. These content-analysis reports, generated through the Academic Data Warehouse, will provide the necessary information for each teacher within a grade level or department to select and prioritize content based on the prescriptive needs of a group of students as identified through the school’s standardized assessment instrument.
The content analysis reports will provide teachers with specific data regarding present student-proficiency levels and mastery expectations for that grade level. Content proficiencies are defined as the desired learning proficiencies that will be measured in the district’s and state’s assessment program.
Finally, the key to increasing student performance begins by providing formal teacher training through professional development to teachers. Through proper training, teachers will better understand the data and realize ways to apply the assessment strategies to instruction. When teachers understand the criteria for which measurement will occur, the approach to the school improvement process in regards to student learning will become more effective.
Electronic Grading And Real Time Assessment Viewer
The Enid Public School District will be implementing newly developed electronic grade book student information software package to provide real-time accountability on student performances. This SIF compliant student information software will be released by Wen-GAGE® SI System in November 2005. Enid Public Schools has been chosen as a pilot district to implement the new grade book software. This software will provide teachers and school office staff more effective time-management opportunities by reducing clerical tasks. The reduction of clerical tasks will include areas of multiple-point entries of student rosters, posting grades, and the real-time availability of student information. ‘Real-time Student Information’ is designed to provide a record of student achievement on individual assignments. Real-time grading solutions will be available to all fifteen Enid Public School sites and will provide administrators, teachers, and office staff with the capability to automate student grading, attendance, behavior data entry, and reporting.
The interface between the Wen-GAGE ® SI System and the real-time student information software package will facilitate the synchronization of data. The key elements of the electronic grade book will be a secure interface that provides privileges for accessing student information to the following user groups:
- Teachers
- Administrators
- Parents/Guardians
- Students
The core features of the grade book will include:
- Track Class Resources/Textbooks
- Manage Assignment Plans
- Align Assignment Plans to District Defined and State Objectives/Standards
- Record Attendance
- Record Assignment Scores/Comments
- Track Student Performance of District Defined and State Objectives/Standards
- Grade Evaluation Process to Determine Eligibility and Session Grades
- Discipline Office Notifications
- Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Developer
Posting Real Time Student Achievement
The Enid Public Schools recognizes the key to posting student performance in a real-time format is in the security of the system. To ensure that personal information posted on the Internet is authenticated and private, the district will establish security rules which will allow no violation of the Federal Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA) policies, or, other federal regulations that protect online student information. Finally, firewall-protection architecture will be built into the system to keep intruders from entering the server’s domain. An example of the district’s proposal to communicate the availability of online assessment and its security policy is listed in Exhibit “D”, Internet Viewer Public Notification Statement.
