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Editorials
Michael J. Vallely Ph.D., Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Pupil Services gave a Power Point presentation to the Lancaster Central School District (LCSD) why the Buffalo First school rankings do not reflect the major step forward that occurred in the 2008-09 school year with regard to student proficiency achievement.
He restated his Superintendents Conference Day message, "More students are learning more and are being challenged by more rigorous curriculum than ever before."
Some teachers had relayed to Vallely that they were a little disappointed (math educators maybe even a little hurt) by the Business First results this past week.
His presentation intention was two-fold; (1) to do a Paul Harvey and "tell you the rest of the story" and (2) to defend Lancaster CSD Math teachers K-12 and their teacher & administrative leadership.
Assistant Superintendent Vallely’s report
First, the district dropping from #15 to #16 is counter-intuitive to having the best year in district's history. Please remember that Business First uses 4 years of data, this SED released data is over a year old and in some cases almost two years old.
This means that 2008 data will not be used in their calculations until their next issue approximately July 2009. Vallely presented charts that showed where student proficiency rates on these State test assessments were the highest ... many of them being the highest proficiency rates in district history.
In the 2006-07 school year, out of 32 State assessments 18 of the 32 showed improvements in efficiency. The 2007-08 statistics show that 27 of the 32 State assessments show proficiency increases; increase upon the increase. The increases collectively show that we are headed in the right direction. Students are learning more and are better prepped for secondary educations thanks to our teachers.
Second, Business First stated that, "Math is the district's weakest subject." Again they use old data. Looking at all the data and knowing what we have done together most recently, this statement is misleading and only serves to degrade the great things that LCSD math teachers have done most recently to improve our student's learning.
2007-08 A big year for Lancaster Central School District
Business First uses 4 years of data (in this case 2004-07) and this SED released data is over a year old and in some cases almost two years old. This means that 2008 data will not be used in their calculations until their next issue.
In the data listed below, the bold boxes represent the years where student proficiency rates on theses assessments were the highest. In 2008, LCSD students had the highest proficiency rates in district history. 2008 was huge year for our students and the district.
Course - 2004 --- 2005--- 2006 --- 2007 --- 2008
ELA 3 ------ X ------ X ----- 77 ----- 82 ---- 86
ELA 4 ----- 74 ----- 83 ---- 77 ----- 81 ---- 82
ELA 5 ------ X ------ X ----- 86 ----- 83 ---- 90
ELA 6 ------ X ------ X ----- 70 ----- 80 ---- 82
ELA 7 ------ X ------ X ----- 72 ----- 78 ---- 89
ELA 8 ----- 66 ----- 71 ---- 58 ----- 75 ---- 78
ELA 11 --- 92 ------ 91 --- 93 ----- 93 ---- 96
MATH 3 ---- X ------ X ----- 95 ----- 95 ---- 97
MATH 4 ----95 ----- 98 ---- 87 ----- 94 ---- 96
MATH 5 ---- X ------ X ----- 89 ----- 92 ---- 95
MATH 6 ---- X ------ X ----- 79 ----- 89 ---- 95
MATH 7 ---- X ------ X ----- 73 ----- 88 ---- 96
MATH 8 --- 61 ------ 73 ---- 68 ---- 79 ---- 89
MATH A --- 87 ------ 93 ---- 93 ---- 93 ---- 94
MATH B --- 66 ------ 83 ---- 96 ---- 92 ---- 85
SC 4 ------- 96 ------ 96 ---- 95 ---- 96 ----- 95
SC 8 ------- 89 ------ 90 ---- 89 ---- 92 ----- 96
LE MS --- 100 ----- 100 --- 100 --- 100 --- 100
ES --------- 79 ------- 84 ---- 87 ---- 83 ----- 81
CHEM ----- 91 ------- 90 ---- 88 ---- 82 ---- 88
PHY ------- 86 ------- 83 ---- 82 ---- 83 ---- 84
SS 5 ------ 91 -------- 92 ----- 96 ---- 93 ----- 96
SS 8 ------ 73 -------- 90 ----- 80 ---- 85 ----- 88
GLOB ------- 87 ----------- 87 --------- 79 --------- 81 -------- 90
US HIST ---- 93 ----------- 95 --------- 96 --------- 94 -------- 96
SP PROF --- 99 ----------- 98 --------- 94 --------- 98 -------- 96
SP REG ----- 97 ----------- 97 -------- 100 --------- 99 ------- 96
FR PROF --- 99 ----------- 98 --------- 98 ---------- 99 ------ 100
FR REG ----- 99 ----------- 98 -------- 100 -------- 100 ------- 99
GR PROF --- 98 ----------- 97 -------- 97 ---------- 98 ------- 100
GR REG ----- 97 ----------- 95 -------- 96 ---------- 93 -------- 96
ELA = English Language Arts
In 2008, 359 Lancaster High School students took Math B with a passing rate of 85% (see bold above) which translates to 359 students taking the New York State's highest level math curriculum and where 305 students passed. This compares to 2007 where only 261 students took Math B at a 92% passing rate, this means that in 2008, 112 MORE students were challenged by higher curriculum and 58 MORE students were successful.
In 208, Lancaster MS increased the number of Accelerated Living Environment classes to six (see italicized, underlined above), which translates to 44 more students taking and passing this high school curriculum.
In 2008, Lancaster Middle School advanced 111 students who took High School Integrated Algebra for the first time with 100% passing and 64% achieving mastery.
In 2008-2009, 164 students or 53 MORE students are being challenged by High School Integrated Algebra's curriculum.
In 2008, Lancaster CSD's 4th grade Math at 96.2% was tied for #1 in Western New York with Williamsville CSD (see Buffalo News article June 24, 2008 "Suburban Schools Improve in State Tests." Clearly a testimony to all that K-4 teachers have done.
"Math proficiency rates improved across the board. Clearly a testimony to all that K-4 teachers have done."
In 2008, Lancaster Middle School increased passing rates on the 8th Grade Math Assessment by 10% and over 20% in a two year span and 20% in Grade 8 English Language Arts (see chart above).
According to Vallely, “The bottom line is that good things are happening here in Lancaster CSD and most important is the fact that our students' achievement and their learning continue to improve. Staying the present course will result in continued success and all of the other things (i.e. public comparisons) will take care of themselves in the coming years.”
Comparing SAT test results with those acroos the state, Lancaster did well. Lancaster scored an average of 537 in math, 498 in writing and 498 on the verbal tests. The state scored 504, 481 and 488, respectively.
Vallely believes the 2008 improvement in test results has been realized by the K-8 programs that have been instated and are now just bearing fruit. He is confident that the 2008-09 school year will have even better improvments and that LCSD will crack the top ten rankings in the near future.
He looks forward to the development of two universal pre-kindergarten classes that will be funded with up to $93,000 in state funds.
Other stats
Financial data is always two years behind. Where the 2005-06 report listed Expenditure per Pupil at $10,455, it is now $16,212.
The 2008-09 K-12 enrollment is 6,247. There are 498 teachers, 35 other professionals and 67 paraprofessionals.
Percent of graduates earning Regent Diplomas – 92%
High school non-completion rate – 2%
Annual attendance rate – 96.3
Annual suspension rate – 1.1%
© Copyright 2008 by Speakupwny.com
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