Lamoille North Boards to Discuss Student Testing

All school board members in the Lamoille North Supervisory Union (LNSU)
will be meeting January 18 at six o'clock at the Lamoille Union High
School Library. The main topic of discussion will be the results of
Lamoille North schools' recent student testing, which were that Lamoille
Union High School (LUHS) "missed the target this year," stated John
Ferrara, a data analyst at LNSU.
The board sincerely hopes many parents and community members will attend
this meeting in an attempt to "identify the strengths and weaknesses" of
LUHS, said Ferrara, who identified this step as "action planning."
For those who may not have a complete understanding of the background or
specifics of the No Child Left Behind Act, Superintendent Dr. Terry
Bailey will be at the meeting to "put the No Child Left Behind law into
laymen's terms," commented Ferrara.
"This meeting will focus on the student academics," said Bailey, and
then added, "We are required by state and federal law to test students
every year." In Vermont, these tests have been given in reading,
writing, and mathematics at grades two, four, eight and 10 for the last
seven years.
State and federal laws also require schools and districts to be held
accountable for student results on these tests. Accountability means
that the schools will offer each other "support and move forward," said
Ferrara.
Every year, all public schools in Vermont are reviewed to see if they
met the accountability targets. This is also known as the Adequately
Yearly Progress or AYP system and has been in the public eye for the
past three years as part of the federal No Child Left Behind law. The
goal of this system is for all students in each school to have passing
scores on the tests by 2013-2014.
The main focus of the January 18 meeting will be the most recent results
and steps the schools and LNSU need to take to ensure that Lamoille
North schools are on the right track to meet the accountability targets
for next year, because if LUHS receives another warning check mark, they
will be labeled as an "identified school," said Ferrara.
An identified school is a school that has been below the accountability
standards for two years.
In addition to discussing who met the target and who didn't, said
Ferrara, board members will also receive background information about
future changes to the testing and accountability systems, which will
include a new testing system for "grades three through eight and starts
next year," warned Ferrara.
"In the past, we have had two LNSU schools formally identified for not
meeting accountability targets," stated Ferrara, "and they were Eden and
Belvidere." Belvidere is now in a partnership with Waterville, and Eden
has made substantial improvements in test scores and is no longer
identified. LUHS middle school and high school, however, were recently
given warning check marks for low test scores and could be "identified,"
if they do not meet certain targets next year.
"These tests along with other local data give us information that help
point out our strengths and weakness in our school programs," commented
Superintendent Bailey. Bailey continued that, "We need to have ongoing
discussions and make decisions about changes to our curriculum, teaching
strategies, and/or the school system as a whole. In fact, by law, we are
required to do this as part of a process called action planning."
In order to learn more about the issue and to contribute to the possible
solution, don't forget you're invited to attend the public meeting on
Tuesday, January 18, at six o'clock.