001You're you're recognized, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh good afternoon, board. >> Good afternoon. >> Uh I'm here with you this afternoon. Um district data came up once before. I offered to do a workshop workshop and show you um and share with you some additional data. And so that is why I'm here today at your request. Uh in your blue folder, you do have a few things. I'm not going to go through everything with you this afternoon. Um, but I do want to just point out you first of all have a um complete slide deck from this afternoon. Um, and if you would like the actual slide deck later, I can email that to you at your request. You also have this document in your folder. This is the one I did email you
002from before. It's a 10-year um analysis of district grade um back to 2015 when the modern school calculation began. Uh, also in your packet, you have a complete report of our strategic plan student performance report. I'm not going to go through all of this this afternoon. I'm just going to highlight a few things that are not part of district grade. Uh, and then you have a one-pager that I am going to explain a little further um as we get to it looking at district grade um and the thresholds. So, those are the things in your packet as we go through things this afternoon. And if you have questions, let me know. Uh I'm going to start with 2025 district grade results, then talk about strategic plan performance report, and then update you on a couple
003of things related to federal and state accountability before we adjourn. So our district grade is made up of 12 components. Um, as we think about the uh improvement from 2024 to 2025, uh, we improved in 10 of the 12 cells, those are highlighted in green. We maintained in one of them in gray and we decreased in one of them in red. So overall improvement in almost all of our district grade components. A few additional facts. Uh, a few of these I have shared with you in the past. Um, our district ELA achievement in 2025 of 48% was the highest since 2011. Math of 46% was the highest since 2014. Science tied our 2018 results at 44%. Uh, again, the highest tie since 2014. Um, overall learning gains in ELA increased four% four points to 55%
004this past year. uh the highest since our modern calculation began in 2015. Math learning gains increased another point to 53% again the highest since we began in 2015 with the modern calculation. Middle school acceleration tied at 78% uh matching results from 2018 and like I shared we increased in 10 of 12 components maintained in one decreased in one in comparing from 2024 to 2025 with 55% of total possible points we earn the highest C since the modern calculation began in 2015 with 664 total points we also earn the most points we've ever had and in In order to become a B district, we will need to earn 714 points, an increase of 50. We're going to talk about why um that is such a large leap for us a little further along. This shows you
005just a historical um look at the points earned, the total components, which then gives you your percent of total possible points, and then based on the thresholds gives you a letter grade. You'll see there a couple of years are highlighted. Um both in 2015 and 2023 is when the state changed their standards for ELA and mathematics and they changed assessments. And so in those years you end up with achievement only grades uh because learning gains are not counted that first year. Then you see in 2016 and 2024 learning gains come back. Obviously you know what happened in 2020 we did not have any school or district grades. And then in 2024 based on legislation we had the um grade three ELA achievement only component added to elementary and district grades. So our district grade is
006now made up of 12 components. >> So this is the slide that I did give you a little bit blown up version of a one-pager in your folder if you want to look at that. And I just want to explain what I did here to help you kind of understand. Yes, we have been on this journey to become a B district. Um and within the C range, we have been um striving to get to the B. And it feels like every time we get close they increase the threshold. Uh so you'll see there back from 2015 when we started the modern calculation that C range has always been larger than the B range. So you'll see there that that kind of orangest orange dotted line is the threshold of a 41 back then to be
007a C. The uh green line is the threshold to be a B. that has been for many years up until they started increasing it. That was at a 54 and then the threshold to become an A was at 62 for many years. And so see you'll see there a couple years we almost made it to a 54 um but just missed it. Then in 2023 we had based on um legislation changes we had statistically equivalent district grades. So even though we had a 54 that year, um the threshold was increased um so that they maintained the same number of A, B, and C district grades that year. So we missed it that year um because we didn't have a 57. And then in 2024, the state board of education actually uh affirmed in state board
008rule the new thresholds of being a 44 to become um a C, a 57 to become a B, and then a 64 to become an A. You'll see there at 2026 at the very end of this afternoon I'm going to talk to you about why that um why those are increasing again. So that gives you a little bit of a historical context. Yes, within that C range we've had our ups and downs. Obviously you can see we were doing a little better than um 2020. We didn't have a grade. There's no number there. And then coming out of the pandemic um when they started recalculating district grades again we we were we struggled. We were back down kind of where we had started in the low 40s. So when we think about ELA and achieve
009um and math achievement I shared with you you know our increases our highest since 2011 or highest since 2014 for ELA and math respectively. Uh in this chart, what I've tried to do is share with you where is that data coming from. So in ELA, uh we give the FAST assessment from kindergarten all the way through 10th grade. In K1 and two, they take STAR. Um but then third grade, they start taking FAST aligned to our new state best standards in ELA. What I've shown you here is a look at the same group of students. So over the past few years with our principles and school leaders, we have been working with them to help them make sure that they understand that the students they get in August, no matter where they come from, whether
010they're coming from um a different county or from a different school, understanding that that group of students, that cohort of students, is coming in with a certain level of achievement. And we need to make sure that our goals we're setting are always higher than that. Right? We shouldn't be losing achievement over the course of a year. If we're only setting goals, looking at what traditionally a certain grade level achieved, you're not talking about the same students, right? So, you might say, "Oh, well, last year, you know, fourth grade had 43%. If I set my target at 43%, but my incoming fourth graders are already at 47." Well, I've set the target too low, right? So we have changed the mindset with how we think about cohorts of students and tracking those with our principles. And
011so this table here shows you um if you look at let's look at first grade for example. So that's the same group of students. The blue line shows that in 37 or in kindergarten they left kindergarten at 37% at a three or above and then they left first grade at a 43%. Right? So that same group of students left kindergarten, went to first grade and they grew six points in first grade. Right? If we look at another grade level like fifth, they left fourth grade at 39%. They left fifth grade at 43%. We grew achievement 4%. >> If you look at sixth grade, they left fifth grade at 45%. They left sixth grade at 57% three or higher, right? So in eight of the 10 grade levels if we look at cohort data um over
012time they increased two of the grade levels they in they decreased. Um third grade continues to be an area where we place a lot of emphasis and focus. Um so that grade level they were sent 43 they left 41. So that is something we need to work on. In seventh grade they entered at a 54 they left at a 51. So slight decrease there. Um but that is the smallest decrease we've had in years. Um when we think about the transition from six to seven. >> Can I ask a question? >> Absolutely. >> Saying they came in at 54 and for example on seventh >> came at 54 and then >> or you could say they >> saying but it's saying up at the top the blue is for 2324 and the green is for
0132425. So wouldn't they have come in at a from the year before? Wouldn't they be coming in with the number from the year before? Because the blue and the green are two different years. >> So that is looking at the students. So keeping in mind that we have some students that leave our enrollment changes, right? So we don't always have the exact same students entering and leaving our district in in the course of a year. Well, I'm just saying between the blue I just want to make sure I'm looking at the same figures. So the blue >> on seventh grade, the blue 54 >> is them coming in. Okay. Because it's the end of the prior year's, >> right? So that's not the same group of students. So the group of students left sixth grade
014at 54 and then they left seventh grade at 51. >> Okay? If you're looking at sixth grade, that group of students left fourth grade or fifth grade at 45. They left sixth grade at 57. So that's two different groups of students if that's your question. >> Okay, that that may >> So 57 is going to be next correct give or take because >> a point, right? So if you were to look and track that group then another year, you would see then that a group of students would perhaps be leaving sixth grade 57 and then entering seventh grade this year. Right. >> Y >> okay I've done the same thing for mathematics. I'm going to explain why I only went through sixth grade and then talk about secondary math. Um but with sixth grade um
015being the first grade level where we have sixth grade accelerated math, uh you will start to see there that as we increase expectations and push students into acceleration um as they're ready, you'll see that the performance significantly increases. But this is showing the same thing. So for example, we we sent a group of students in first grade. They left kindergarten at 28. They left first grade at 44. Um, if you look at sixth grade, they left fifth grade at 42, they left sixth grade at 60. And so this is looking at the same group of students by cohort in elementary math. Once they start on that accelerated path in sixth grade, then it's a lot harder to track them by cohort because the pathways go all over the place. So this slide just in here
016to kind of help you understand that we have starting after sixth grade as they enter seventh grade a lot of different pathways to accommodate for acceleration and making sure that we have on-ramps and off-ramps to acceleration and as students get into upper levels of mathematics they have lots of different choices. Uh and so this is here to help you kind of understand I can't track the fast data and the EOCC data by cohort. Um but what I've done is so in 2022 23 when the state changed to the best standards and the new assessments we redid our pathways and so over time as students started in acceleration or were already close to being in algebra 1 or geometry. The data it it's kind of been working its way out as students metriculate from grade level
017to grade level. But this is what the secondary math data looks like. So, I gave you a three-year snapshot since we changed those uh pathways. So, if you're a standard seventh grader, those are mostly level ones and twos. They're coming into seventh grade, a level one and two. And so, to get them to 27% means that we grew students into achieving a three or higher even though they came in a one or two. If you are an acceler accelerated seventh grade math, you actually don't take the seventh grade test. you take the grade eight pre-alggebra fast test. And so those students are testing above grade level. Those are typically your grade your level three and above students. And so a good three4s of them over the course of time are testing um at a three
018or higher in accelerated seventh math. And then standard 8th grade again would be mostly level ones and twos coming in and then getting them to a three or higher over the course of the year. um traditionally a level one or two student now achieving a three or higher. So those are going to be lower in standard courses because again all of your students who are three or higher are on that accelerated pathway. looking at algebra 1 EOCC and geometry EOCC. The one-year dip in geometry is because as we kind of changed that pathway, there was a year where there were lots and lots of students who needed geometry and so your denominator was a lot more as well as your numerator. But now that those pathways have kind of evened out, um I really tried
019to give you the general picture of seventh um 7th through geometry EOC being an all secondary math combined there. can see over the course of time um an increase of 10 percentage points >> the stem we going to be probably increasing geometry now we got so much going on >> did the all secondary math include the pre-calculus >> um so when I talk about this slide this is statewide assessments only so the statewide assessments stop at geometry >> so everything above does not have a statewide assessment So that gives you a little picture of district grade as well as a more in-depth look at ELA and mathematics and where some of that achievement is coming from. So now I want to just point out a few tables from the student performance report which has been
020updated and is posted on our website uh to reflect um not only our district grade components as key performance indicators but some additional components as well. So in that report which you have in front of you there is a table looking at just trying to increase grade three reading. And so you'll see in here there is a three-year snapshot of our reading achievement in grades K to two. Then the next line shows you the ELA achievement of grade three students who attended and completed VPK. So you can always see that those students perform much higher, which is why we really try to encourage our families to take advantage of our VPK programs um because students who go to VPK just perform better than everybody else. Um and so that's something that we do track. And
021so that 58% is really um is really a great thing especially when we think about uh the age of students and a lot of these students were born during the pandemic or the beginning years of the pandemic and didn't have maybe as much interaction with other people as much reading all the things that really help students develop foundational skills. Um, and then you'll see there the ELA achievement of all grade three students had a two percentage point increase last year. Also in this plan that's not part of district grade is a look at college and career readiness and a more in-depth look. So the first thing I'm showing you here is obviously we have been working to make sure that we provide more access for our students to accelerated pathways as well as college credit
022earning coursework. And so here in our district, we offer both advanced placement and ACE Cambridge courses. You can see there the number of students enrolled, right? So this is not their performance. That's the next slide. This is really just about giving them access. Um we have ACE coursework, AP coursework at all four of our secondary schools. And then one of the other things we've been working to increase is the percent of students who can participate in dual enrollment courses. And so you'll see there we had a slight increase um in the past year um to encourage more students and have more opportunities for dual enrollment. So that is just the access. This then starts to look at performance. So you can see um in our strategic plan reports we it's a five-year plan. So those
023are the five years that we have in the plan. Um and you'll see there the number of industry certifications earned, exams passed, dual enrollment college credits earned. And so last year um in 2023 2024 um we had some nice increases in uh those college credit earning and certification um pathways. Just keeping in mind this data uh lags by about a half a year similar to graduation rates because all of this data is not finalized until the fall after students graduate. So you don't have 202425 data yet um because all of that data won't be finalized and released until probably December after survey 5 is finished. And Mr. Thank you. So on the uh number the dual enrollment college credits earned >> are those both in-person and >> doing on computer or >> Yes. >> So
024any dual enrollment >> or is it just whatever the course is offered? >> So most of our dual enrollment is with St. John's Estate, right? Um depending on what students are in uh they may have a combination of courses that are online and on campus. when I say on campus in that context on the college campus. But one of the things we've been really trying to do is increase the credentialed staff that are on our school campuses so that we can get approval to have more dual enrollment coursework offered on our school campuses for students who don't have the luxury of having their own car or transportation or things like that. And so this is a this isn't a combination of all of those things. It could be both on our school campus, on the
025college campus, and online. >> Um, how does a student get a career plan in Zillow? >> So, um, a couple different ways. Um, one in rule and statute, all of our eighth graders have to do a career plan as part of being in eth grade. And so that career plan is put in Zello now because Zello is the statewide purchased um college and career platform that they want all districts using. And then beyond that um students have access to work and create their on to work on and create career plans throughout their entire 9 through 12 as well. So they can be in their updating they can create their own as well um even if it's not done as part of 8th grade. And so really trying to get students to use that platform and
026go in and update and monitor and track their career plans. There are a lot of really neat um applications in Zello for kids to do everything from looking at different schools and what they offer to budgeting and understanding what you know real world things cost. So they can look at if I go into this career and I earn this amount of money um you know and this is how much my rent costs and this is how much my groceries like am I going to have enough to pay the bills like there's all sorts of neat applications in Zello uh even for our little students they can in elementary school go through um different explorations of careers um starting in elementary school >> and so beyond 8th grade it's up to the student themselves to monitor
027to change Not necessarily because in certain courses they might be more actively doing that. Like especially if they're in like some sort of a CTE course or maybe an AVID course or if they're in a course that has um that career plan as part of what the curriculum is, then they might be more active than some other students would be. >> So um you said 8th grade. So how long have we had that? Would our seniors have done that? >> No. And so that's why the baseline is the 23 2024 because this is only the third we're only in the third year of having Zello >> gives me something to do with my take stock children. >> Yeah, they can log in and you can you can have fun budgeting and exploring universities. There's all
028kinds of really neat things in there for students to do. And then this just this slide is in here really just to show you kind of the comparison of the amount. Um obviously Cambridge is very a large part of our accelerated pathways in Putnham County and so you have a lot of exams being passed because we have a lot of courses offered. Um CTE and dual enrollment um are the next two uh that provide students those opportunities. Um, and then with advanced placement, we have some advanced placement course work. Um, but compared to Cambridge, a lot less. The last section I want to spend um time with you on this afternoon is just looking at federal and state accountability. And so just a quick review um in past board workshops when we have talked uh
029I explained the the two parallel systems in Florida right we have this state accountability and we have this federal accountability when it comes to the state accountability for the second year in the row we do not have any DRF schools we do not have any schools with a graduation rate below 67% so we are not in any of those state accountability lists when it comes to the ESSA federal accountability Um there are federal index designations uh that look at the performance of subgroups of students. And so that's the bulk of what the federal accountability is is looking at underperforming or low performing student subgroups. So in our district, we have all of these subgroups. They may not be um large enough at every single school, but districtwide, these are the subgroups that populate um for
030us. And so every time you get in a conversation with someone who doesn't understand how subgroups matter in grading and and the the the changes and nuances you have to make to address the different categories. It's it's it's kind of a interesting thing, but they just don't understand it. It's they want to make something really racial out of it. And so at the school level then these subgroups if they have at least 10 students that are part of a subgroup that's going to be part of their of each school's federal index calculation and designation. And so this group of schools here um which is the largest list we've had in a while. These are schools that do not have a federal designation which is good. You don't want a federal designation. So this group of
031students, all of their subgroups are performing at or above the threshold expected for um the federal designations. So that's the list without a designation. Uh this list of three schools are considered the ATSI or additional targeted support and improvement schools. These are schools that have at least one subgroup that is performing below the the expected threshold. Um and so that's the list there. And then this group of schools um is our largest priority right now when we think about improving um for the federal designation level. This is our CSI group, our comprehensive support and improvement group. This group of schools has a subgroup that has been underperforming for six years. And so we are working with these schools. Two of them um missed it by one point um but they're still on the list. And
032so we are working with these schools to look at those subgroups that they have identified that have been underperforming uh for for the six years to make sure that we've really looked at our systems and how we support those those students. Uh and so that's where this list come from comes from. >> I have a question and >> did you have one? And I was just going to say I'm looking at Melon Learning Center >> and that's where the bulk of our exceptional education students um >> the for so with a school like Melon on the state accountability side they get a school improvement rating. >> Okay. >> Um which I if I remember correctly was a maintaining last year. So that was good. Um but they don't get a grade, they get a rating.
033But on the federal side the rules are all the same. So they have the same expectation of looking at subgroups of students and tracking them over time as all other schools. So on that federal side, um, yeah, it's it's a lot to work on there, but I'm baffled with that one. >> In the terms of disabilities, would would mental health be a disability? Um me so not just like mental health counseling or anything like that's >> no just they definitely have some >> might not be a subgroup but it's a disability. So, I mean potentially if you had like an emotional behavior right >> disorder or something that's not the same thing, but that might >> I mean >> there is a list and I don't know them all off the top of my head,
034but there is a list of specific codes that are used for looking at the subgroup of students with disabilities because it is not all of the codes. Um, but there is a specific list that they use for the federal index calculation. And so lastly, I just want to update you on one piece of state accountability. So a couple years ago in statute and then in state board rule, there was something called the escalation clause that was passed. And what the escalation clause says is that when a school type when 75% or more of graded schools within a school type earn a grade of an A or B then the threshold for the school grades increases for that school type. So this past year looking at the 2025 school grades both the high schools and the
035combination schools met that threshold. Um district grade follows combination schools. So for the 2026 scale range high schools combination schools and our district grade thresholds increase because of that escalation clause being implemented. Um, and so the way that works is like in 2025, if a school type met that threshold, then the following year that threshold is implemented. It's not implemented in the same year. So you have a year of knowing that it's coming, which is why I'm sharing it with you here. >> Type define type. >> So school type means this the grade level served. So like our K to6 schools, our elementary schools, that's a zero zero one school type. >> Okay, gotcha. Um, middle schools are a 02. Our only real middle school in Putham County is PAUSE, the um, Academy of Arts
036and Sciences. Uh, then the school type 03 is high schools, of which we don't have any traditional high schools that are just 912. >> So all of our secondary schools are considered 04 combination types or 04 types, which is the combination. >> Okay. So, we mostly have in our traditional public schools, we have elementary and combination. Okay. >> And so, this uh I'm just going to direct you back to this um and I kind of alluded to it earlier at the beginning. This table then shows you um because of the escalation clause going into effect and impacting district grade thresholds. You'll see here that for 2026, our target, our goal is no longer a 57. We have to get to a 60. Um, and so that shows you there. It also just the the C
037range was always very wide, but now when you look at the difference between the green and the blue dotted lines, that that's the B range. It is extremely small. So the B range is down to five points. The C range is at 15. Um, and then once you get a 65 or higher, that's your A range. But the C range has just widened a lot and so we will continue striving. But now we've got to get to 60. Um, which is a lot of points. >> Well, it's designed to declare failing schools and if you start passing, they're going to raise it again just, you know, you start doing better. And that's so they can offer the everybody knows that offer the opportunities and scholarships and different things. I hate to see it, but it's
038it's just it's just a new new way of doing you. It's going to always bounce back. You can put the money in these schools and get an F school to an A school. Give it a few years and you got the same subgroups. You've got the same title one poverty groups rates and you're going to be right back where you were. normally >> and that might be the plan. But our our our staff, our our administrators, they are working. They are um as Phil mentioned earlier getting the low flute fruit. Those kids that were closest to that uh level three, they are working hard. I mean from day one uh instructing and I and it keeps ringing in my ear when Mr. Kase was concerned uh about you know where we ranked uh with with
039the academics and everything but the the effort is there. I mean almost I'm not I believe every principal administrator can name give you names of students and where they are and what they need to score and that's >> I'm sorry. Go ahead and finish. No, I I'm just saying that's a a a credit to them. They they are looking at this data and they are working it and and just going to do the very best you can with what you have. I mean parents send us what they have from the house and >> our narrative is and I mentioned this when the gentleman you referenced is that solid line and how far we've come as a district. >> Yes, sir. >> Yeah, we're not satisfied but I think we've come >> we're progressing. Yes, sir.
040Well, the unfortunate thing, Rick, is when you when you point that out, you still, >> well, if you were any good, you'd be better. You know, you got to hear that same kind of stuff. And they don't understand subgroups. They don't understand how it's tracked, how it's graded. When you get to where you're performing at at the upper upper levels, and they're going to raise the bar, so you'll go back to the lower levels, and it's going to usually be the same title one high poverty districts and schools. and and I go back and that this will be the last thing I say in regards to that because one of the subgroups was homelessness and you know I mean I can't focus on the reading writing and and mathematics because my concern is and then
041uh Mrs. France introduced me to a term this past school term that I had never heard of couch surfing. We got kids that actually live on friends couches, you know? I mean, and so, and it's, and I'm not saying this as an excuse. I'm saying we're taking what we have and doing the very best we can with it. And I mean, with them, not in it. But, but that's what it is. >> When it's written out in a chart though, it's so easy to pick us apart. Any district. >> Yes, sir. I agree. Any other comments from the board, Miss Pickings? So, so I know that you have chosen areas that we can improve to get to the 60 >> and so all of our schools have identified what we're you you have a plan
042for that, >> right? >> Yes. There there are certain components we have been working on where we we know we can we can get a number of points. There are other components that you can't squeeze many more points out of and one of those is graduation, right? Um, also just thinking about our learning gains, uh, for the most part we're in the 50s, which is good, right? We can always get a few more, but those are hard to increase it significantly every year. Uh, college and career acceleration, middle school acceleration, third grade reading are three where we know we can keep improving and get some more points out of a little easier than others. Um, and if you can improve achievement, um, and some of those learning gain, learning gains components, um, mathematics, the lowest
04325% is huge on our radar because that's the one that decreased last year. Um, and so we really have some new things in place this year to really focus in on learning gains and making sure that we're providing the right interventions for students in mathematics. Um, but yeah, getting um, all those, we need 50 more points um, to then round up to 60. They're they're having to play the play the chart and I you're doing an excellent job of doing it. But I mean that's it's going to continue. It's not going to change. >> Anything else, Mr. Hanky? >> No, sir. >> Any any any further things from the board? All right. Workshop will stand adjourned. >> I need a break.