Parents of students at the Miller School in Waldoboro have been given the option to move their kids to another school in the district because the school is under-performing.
Like 82 percent of schools nationwide, two RSU/MSAD 40 elementary schools – the Miller School and Warren Elementary – are under-performing and have been place on Continuous Improvement Priority Status (CIPS).
District officials said they received a letter on July 28 from the State Dept. of Education informing them the schools were on the watch list of under-performing schools. In the next week, parents were notified of their option to move their children before school starts on Aug. 29.
The schools are on notice because their standardized test scores have not reflected adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years.
Federal standards dictate that a percentage of students at schools must meet or exceed standards. Each year that percentage climbs, with the intent of reaching 100 percent in 2014, school officials said. Last year, 70 percent of students were required to meet or exceed standards.
Because there are other elementary schools in the district that are making adequate yearly progress, parents at Miller and Warren have the option of moving their kids to a different elementary school in the district.
The district has just begun working with state consultant, said new Supt. Susan Pratt. Officials will be designing a plan to get the schools back on track, she said. Parents in the district can expect more information after school starts, including a public forum, which has not yet been scheduled.
“Typically, you see good growth in schools placed on CIPS,” said Pratt, who started work at the district Aug. 8, after the schools were placed on CIPS. “It could ultimately be a positive thing; it will prompt us to examine the data and make the changes we need to make.”
Both Pratt and the district’s new Director of Instruction Kim Schroeter said they’ve been through the CIPS process in other school districts.
“The fact that the district is just getting on the list this year, shows that they’ve been performing better than most,” Schroeter said. However, Schroeter believes the important thing is to compare schools to the standards, not to one another. “Failing a little better than your neighbors isn’t the same as doing well,” she said.
Earlier in her career, Schroeter worked as a test developer creating the standardized tests used to measure schools’ progress. There is no uniform test used throughout the country, she said. The New England Common Assessment Program – used by Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island – is one of the most challenging tests used anywhere in the country, Schroeter said.
“None of this negates the schools’ test results,” Schroeter said, “but I hope people don’t judge their school by this one data point.” There are many factors other than the quality of education – including the stress of the test-taking environment – that affect scores on standardized tests, she said.
District officials will present information on CIPS to the school board at their Aug. 18 meeting at 7 p.m. at the Central Administrative Office in Union.
Parents seeking more information should contact their building principal – Miller School Principal Julia Levensaler at 832-2103 – or district Director of Instruction Kim Schroeter at the district office at 785-2277.
Data about each school in the district is available on the Department of Education’s website, www.maine.gov/education.
