FISD Ponders Ways To Boost Test Scores

Dec 12, 2007 - 15:30:05 CST.

PAYING TRIBUTE to fallen comrades, Pearl Harbor survivors, including (from left) a former Marine, Al Block of the United States Navy and (in back) retired United States Air Force Brigadier General Van de Hey placed a wreath during Friday ceremonies at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Standard-Radio Post Photo by Cathy Collier

Questions about how to move Fredericksburg Independent School District student performance on the state’s mandated Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test into the “Recognized” and “Exemplary” categories were posed by trustees at Monday night’s regular monthly board meeting.

The queries came after Assistant Superintendent Linda Hicks outlined the district’s Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) report from the Texas Education Agency.

The report, including many details that had been released to the public several months ago, included the rating of the Fredericksburg Middle School campus as “Unacceptable”. While scores in most testing categories at FMS equaled or bettered the state average, the scores on one test for a small number of students pulled the average on that test down far enough to give the campus a lower rating.

“It’s the low-performing ones who keep us at that level and that’s where we as a board need to be involved,” said trustee Wayne Harrell who has proposed a board mentoring program aimed at those students. “We don’t want to be coming back next year and saying, ‘But for those four or five kids…’.”

Trustee James Hejl also questioned the district’s performance.

“We think that we have a better school system,” he said, “but if we do, why don’t the statistics show it?”

Hejl posed questions about data showing that the FISD has a higher number of experienced teachers than the state average.

“Maybe we have a few faculty members who are set in their ways,” he said.

He also questioned, for example, expenditures on co-curricular activities that exceed the state average and expenditures for bilingual/ESL (English as a Second Language) that are a lower percentage of the overall budget than the state average.

Trustee Dave Campbell noted that “statistics can be played around with. We need to focus our energies on trying to do more.”

Superintendent Marc Williamson agreed.

“We have to break down the numbers so that we can determine what our strengths and weaknesses really are,” he said. “We don’t want to make quick comparisons because things are usually not that easy or simple. We spend a lot of time studying the numbers to find out what we are doing well and what we are doing poorly. Quick judgments tend to not be that effective.”

He noted that at FMS, for example, “we didn’t do what we needed to do to take care of that subpopulation. But other numbers at middle school improved in every grade level, in every subject and in every subpopulation. We don’t want to lose the momentum we gained.”

The information in the report did, he said, “help us target where we need improvement.”

Board President Mike Sagebiel noted in comments yesterday that he just wants to be sure that “we are doing the best we can. Is there something else we should try?”

“I want us to have a goal of being an ‘Exemplary’ district,” he added. “We appreciate all that is being done within the school system to improve education but what can we do to make faster steps in that direction.”

AEIS Summary

Overall, the FISD was rated “Academically Acceptable” with Gold Performance Acknowledgements for Writing and for AP examination results in 2005-06.

As a campus, Fredericksburg High School was also ranked “Academically Acceptable” and received a Gold Performance Acknowledgment for AP exam results.

FMS was ranked “Academically Unacceptable”.

Fredericksburg Elementary School was ranked “Academically Acceptable” with Gold Performance Acknowledgments that were in Reading/English-Language Arts and Mathematics.

Stonewall Elementary was ranked “Exemplary” and earned Gold Performance Acknowledgments in Reading/ELA, Writing, Mathematics, Science and improvement in Reading/ELA and Mathematics.

Students at Fredericksburg Primary School do not take the TAKS exam.

The AEIS report also includes information on completion rates for students, a district profile and more.

Modified Block Approved

In a 7-0 vote, the board approved the move next year to a modified block schedule at high school.

The change in the block system -- in which classes are, on the average, 90 minutes long and meet every other day -- comes in reaction to new state requirements for this year’s freshman class.

New requirements for graduation include four years of science and math, up from three years currently mandated by the state.

Under the current system, classes like band and athletics are “double blocked” so that students who take those classes attend for 90 minutes each day. The 90-minute athletic period includes a 30-minute study hall.

Consequently, students who were in either band or athletics would have elective choices severely limited under the new requirements.

To address the situation, Williamson worked with Principal Lynn Blackwell and the department heads at FHS.

Although a new schedule has not been nailed down, the modified block system next year will create a 50-minute period at the beginning and end of each day when athletics and band will be scheduled.

Band teachers agreed that they would be able to compensate for the loss of time with other practices outside of regular school hours and coaches agreed to give up the study hall time built into each athletic period block.

Other classes could also be scheduled in 50-minute blocks that met daily or 90-minute periods that met every other day.

The change will have several positive results, Williamson said.

“We will actually have more academic sections than before,” he noted, with coaches being able to pick up an additional 18 sections in their teaching fields.

Many students will be able to pick up additional electives and class sizes should be lowered, he said.

’08-’09 Calendar Approved

Trustees also approved the calendar for the 2008-09 school year.

•School will start on Aug. 25 -- the earliest date now allowed by the state.

•Holidays during the first semester include Labor Day Sept. 1, Thanksgiving holidays Nov. 26-28 (Wednesday through Friday), Christmas holidays Dec. 22-Jan. 2, and Jan. 9.

•The first semester will end Jan. 16.

•Second semester holidays include Martin Luther King Day Jan. 19, President’s Day Feb. 16, spring break March 9-13 (Monday through Friday), April 10 and Memorial Day May 25.

•Graduation will be June 5.

Appraisal Board Chosen

Board members also cast the district’s votes for members of the Gillespie Central Appraisal District Board.

The FISD has 3,391.3 votes out of 5,000. The district cast 1235.9 votes for Harold Coates, 1235.9 for Tim Dooley and 919.5 for Don Davis.

Other voting entities, including the City of Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Harper ISD and Doss Common Consolidated School District, will cast the remaining votes and the other nominees are Jim McAfee and Tony Klein.

Board Hears Reports

FMS Principal Kevan Webb gave an update on his campus and brought students from Michael Forrester’s Industrial Technology class who showed model bridges they had constructed from blueprints they drew and had tested for strength.

He said that the school year so far has been one of “adversity” as the faculty and staff dealt with the “Academically Unacceptable” rating the campus received on the TAKS assessment.

“There are different ways to react, but it can be a great motivator,” he said. “It is an opportunity to raise our level of performance -- to take our game up a notch.”

In a year when the test also showed improvement on the campus in a majority of areas, Webb said that there was “so much good to celebrate but we have to examine our practices and see how we can be more successful.”

He talked about the programs designed to “keep families engaged in support of the education of our young people.”

An update on the bilingual/English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the FISD was given by Barbara Grona and a staff member from each campus.

Olga Peacock from FPS, Patricia Rivera from FES, Marti Earley from FMS and Mary Dannelley from FHS talked about their programs and progress with students.

They discussed the range of students’ language abilities and the process of transitioning them from another primary language to English.

Mrs. Rivera commented that “the better their vocabulary at home the easier their transition to English.”

Williamson agreed, noting that the biggest problem came from students with “no language” -- meaning their skills were limited in any language. Skills in one language, he said, made it easier to learn a second.

“Parents want their children to speak English,” Mrs. Rivera said, stressing that bilingual education was not used as a way to keep students from learning English.

Board members also heard a presentation from Hill Country Special Education Cooperative Director Debra Wilks, who explained the program and talked about the changes in how students are evaluated in the program.

The board also recognized the winners of the design contest for this year’s FISD Christmas card.

FHS students competed this year and Hannah Foeh was named the winner. Her design is used on this year’s cards.

Second place went to Eleanor O’Neil and third to Gerianne Icke.