By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Data drives Dowagiac Union Schools' circular model for continuous improvement.
What four school board members discussed for about two hours Monday night at Patrick Hamilton Middle School with Curriculum Director Dawn Conner, Superintendent Larry Crandall and Principal Peg Stowers, the district's designee for assistant superintendent, "brings balance" to their "oversight" role, commented William Lawrence.
Data the administration is collecting insures the board is not just "along for the ride."
Lawrence said during his tenure, school board members have always gotten a "ton" of financial information documenting every aspect of district operations, but lagged behind in corresponding academic detail.
Over time -- it takes at least three years to document a trend -- data collection will help form the foundation of a strategic plan and a timeline repeated each school year.
Beginning in September, the district will analyze the previous year's data and determine what additional data might be warranted.
The annual school improvement plan will be built on that detail.
K-12 writing, at-risk students and school climate, including the work done with bullying, are some identified "focus areas."
Once school improvement plans are finalized in October-November, implementation begins. That process continues through January.
Plans will be evaluated in March to check that goals have been accomplished. If not, a determination can be made of what still needs to be attained.
Fifty-five staff members reviewed the data at the last school improvement meeting.
May means reflecting on school improvement plans and deciding a direction for the following school year, including a discussion of any additional data needed for the cycle to start anew in September.
Conner said understanding data that will be presented relies on understanding Dowagiac's demographics.
If the numbers "don't say anything to you tonight," Conner said of the 22-page packet she prepared, "it's going to set a baseline for us to look down the road."
For example, for the first time in 2003, more than half (50.2 percent) of the student population qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, up from 43.1 percent in 2002, 41.5 percent in each of 2001 and 2000, 42.9 percent in 1999 and 41.2 percent in 1998.
Crandall added that a scan system added two years ago makes receiving reduced-price meals more discreet at upper grades where students feel more self-conscious.
Such a high poverty indicator also suggests many students are coming to school not ready to learn.
Crandall said Dowagiac's staff must work harder and smarter to surmount the challenges "inherent" from lower family incomes.
An ethnic breakdown shows three of every four students are Caucasian, with generally equal numbers of the two largest minority groups, African Americans and Hispanics, and much smaller populations of Native Americans and Asian Americans.
Data collected in 2003, for example, showed 74.96 percent white, 11.99 percent Hispanic, 11.39 percent black, 1.27 percent Indians and .39 percent Asian Americans.
Dowagiac's students are also characterized by their mobility. A 1999 study found that 43 percent "moved" -- changed schools -- at least once in the last three years.
Conner explained the methodology of a "gap analysis" on Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) scores to determine that the district's areas of greatest concern are eighth grade social studies, fourth grade writing, seventh grade writing, 11th grade social studies, eighth grade math and seventh grade reading. Social studies is similar to writing in that students taking the test are asked to compile position papers.
Strengths evident from the analysis are fourth grade reading, fifth grade science, 11th grade writing, 11th grade math, fifth grade social studies, 11th grade reading and 11th grade science.
MEAP scores were also evaluated by gender. Girls do significantly better in writing in seventh grade than boys. Girls do significantly better in writing in 11th grade than boys.
Next year they will begin examining whether there is a correlation between grades and test scores.
An analysis of grade-point average found:
Freshmen account for a larger portion of the failing students, but this group decreased by 2 percent as a result of intervention. While 2 percent might not sound like much, it would be a sizable gain if that could be compounded over multiple years.