And the results are in…
For the second year in a row, Oxford Area Community Schools? five elementaries and one middle school have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and maintained a steady overall B-average on their Michigan School Report Cards.
‘For our second annual, that’s a good thing,? said Curriculum Director Karen Eckert. ‘We’re very proud of that, but there is always room for improvement, and that’s what we’re going to look at.?
Oxford’s elementaries received the following preliminary grades, which were then maintained by their AYP status:
n Clear Lake Elementary received 88 percent (B)
n Daniel Axford Elementary received 86.2 percent (B)
n Lakeville Elementary received 86.6 percent (B)
n Leonard Elementary received 84.1 percent (B)
n And Oxford Elementary received 86.2 percent (B)
All five of the elementaries scored above 96 percent in the indicators of school performance category which judges a school’s facilities, parent involvement, attendance and graduation rate.
Oxford Middle School received a preliminary grade of 83.1 percent (B), which was maintained by the school’s AYP status. Like the elementaries, OMS received 96.8 percent on indicators of school performance.
When asked to compare this year’s results with 2003, Eckert stated she did not have all the numbers readily available, but she knew all of the results went up slightly.
‘No matter what, even if we had all A’s, I’d do the same thing and look at where we can improve,? said Eckert. ‘There is always something we can do better and that’s what we look for.?
Eckert added that just as they have in previous years, officials will be looking at trends in the data and meeting with school administrators to begin assessing the curriculum and classroom instruction. This year Oxford Schools will be dealing with improving several curriculums including elementary social studies, elective social studies courses in the secondary language arts curriculum, K-12 fine arts and the secondary technical and vocational career courses.
‘We’re simply going to continue towards steady improvement,? concluded Eckert.
A press release from the Michigan Department of Education states that overall grade cards for Michigan schools are improving: the number of schools making AYP increased by 52; of the 208 schools labeled ‘High Priority? last year, 79 made AYP for the first time; and the number of elementary and middle schools earning a composite A or B went from 1,109 in 2003 to 1,878 in 2004.
Due to the May final MEAP testing date at the high school level, a grade card for Oxford High School will not be available until later this year.
In addition, the formulas used to calculate this year’s grades were changed from the previous year. In relation to Oxford Schools, this change affected the final results little – every school maintained their cumulative B-average from the previous year. The full report card for each elementary and middle school, with explanations of the different graded areas and their calculations, can be found at www.michigan.gov/mde.