Amy updates the committee re: Middle School Data (see attached spreadsheet).

Exciting Points!

• ANet - we use these scores as a predictive measure of students' performance on the MCAS. The 5th grade did incredible - In ELA 58% of students scored 65% or higher and for math 59% of students scored 65% or higher (last year both categories were 20% or below). 
• 7th grade also doubled their achievement in ELA from the previous year.

Area for Continued Improvement

• 8th grade is struggling the most - which is a trend we have seen all year. We are continuing to work on it. This grade also has the largest gaps to close.
• Thinking about this grade moving forward - we are trying to be strategic about what this specific group of kids need coming into high school. For example, they will need writing and math support right off the bat - we won't need to wait and determine what they need help with, we already know. 

Ann asks about tying back specific actions being taken to the improvement in achievement?

Amy says 5th grade has done a good job of keeping the academic bar high, executing on curriculum, working well as a team, and being consistent with interventions. 

The committee discusses more about preparing our middle school students for the transition to high school. 

Dale asks about our plans to strengthen/support our teachers who are not seeing academic achievement improve for their students. 

Amy talks about using midyear reviews to really talk to teachers who are struggling about what needs to happen so they can help move their student data forward. 

Amy updates the committee about student progress related to fluency. 

Rebecca points out that in order to move the needle on fluency the core classroom teaching in ELA needs to happen effectively as well as certain specific interventions.

Amy mentions that chronic absenteeism is trending downward as are referrals (except for 8th grade - lunch issues which leadership is addressing). 

The committee discusses absenteeism more and the factors that are having an impact on students' attendance. 

Rebecca asks about IEPs and data for specific student populations (i.e. ELL students, special education students, etc.)

Amy says generally we are seeing that the interventions we are implementing are working for all students. Some areas the gap is bigger than others (i.e. 6th grade math). We are tracking this information and looking at things like attendance and suspensions. We need to do better tracking data for ELL students. 

The committee discusses tracking the progress towards meeting accountability goals including data systems, organizational tools, etc.

Rachel has been working with Open Architects who is going to create some data dashboards for us. They can also customize dashboards that specifically report out on data that we have and want to know more about. She has been envisioning a longer term dashboard that would keep us on top of our long term goals (how many students are graduating with a certain amount of college credits, how many students are going onto a four year institution, etc.).

Follow Up: Bring a dashboard to March meeting with accountability goals that shows progress.

Ann would like to ensure that all Board members know as much about academic data as this committee is privy to. 

March Meeting

Data update