Education News in Alabama
August 13, 2004 (archive)
ACCOUNTABILITY, ASSESSMENTS AND AYP
On August 12, Alabama took a large step toward ensuring that every
student will perform grade-level work in reading and math. The State
Board of Education released status reports for schools and school
systems that include the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) determinations
required under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This new method of reporting
student data will enable educators to assess where each student
is in terms of achievement. Under this system, instruction in the
classroom can be tailored to meet the needs of individual students
so that all children in Alabama have an opportunity to learn the
reading and math skills needed to be productive members of society.
According to NCLB, schools must ensure that every student makes
progress each year toward a goal of performing grade-level work
in reading and math. The ultimate goal is to have all students,
regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic status, at proficient levels
by 2014. Each state must determine AYP by administering student
assessments in grades 3 - 8 and in at least one grade in high school.
These assessments must be aligned to state standards. In other words,
they must accurately measure what the state expects students to
know and be able to do.
Key points about this new accountability system:
- Student test scores are reported in levels:
- Level IV - Exceeds Academic Content Standards
- Level III - Meets Academic Content Standards
- Level II - Partially Meets Academic Content Standards
- Level I - Does Not Meet Academic Content Standards.
- Students test scores are reported by categories: all students,
free/reduced lunch, Special Education, limited English proficient,
and all racial/ethnic groups.
- Each year, a certain percentage of students will be required
to reach Level III or higher. For example, this year, 68% of all
4th graders are expected to reach Level III or higher in reading.
This percentage is the same for all categories.
- The goal for the percentage of students at proficient levels
will be increased gradually every two years.
Key points about the assessments:
- This is the first year the state has given the Alabama Reading
and Math Tests (ARMT). The ARMT are tests developed by the State
Department of Education based on Alabama's academic content standards
in reading and math. This year, the math sections of the ARMT
in grades 4 and 6 and the reading sections in grades 4, 6, and
8 were used for accountability. The ARMT for grades 3, 5, and
7 will be introduced in the 2004-2005 school year.
- The Alabama High School Graduation Exam is required for gradation
from high school. It is aligned to state standards. The 11th grade
scores in reading and math will be used when determining AYP.
- This is the first year that the tests used to determine accountability
status have been aligned to state standards. In essence, this
is the first year the state has been able to determine how well
students are learning the content the state has determined is
important.
- While students will continue to take the Stanford-10, it no
longer will be used for accountability purposes, as it is not
aligned to state standards.
Key points about AYP:
- There are three components of AYP: annual goals for reading
and math (percentage of students scoring ad proficient or higher);
indicators affecting academic proficiency (attendance for elementary
schools and projected drop-out rate for high schools); and participation
rate (percent of students participating in assessments).
- The attendance goal for elementary schools is 95%
- The goal for projected dropout rate in high school is less than
10%
- 95% of all students in every category must take the assessments
- Schools must meet the goals in all three components in every
student category in order to make AYP
AYP Results:
- 595 out of 1,361 schools met 80% or more of their AYP goals
- 301 met between 60 and 80% of their goals
- 459 met less than 60% of their goals
For more information on the new statewide accountability system,
the assessments given in Alabama's schools, and the AYP designations
for all schools and school systems, please visit http://www.alsde.edu/Accountability/preAccountability.asp.
To view results for individual schools and school systems, click
on the "Start Accountability Reporting System" button.
STATE SUPERINTENDENT'S CONTRACT APPROVED
At the August 12 meeting of the State Board of Education, board
members approved a four-year contract for new State Superintendent
Joe Morton. Terms of contract were determined following research
of various factors, including a comparison of duties and salaries
of chief state school officers from surrounding states.
At Morton's request, he will not receive a substantial pay raise.
A committee was going to recommend the board pay Morton a salary
between $165,000 and $170,000. However, Morton indicated that he
would prefer to receive less, stating, "I don't want my salary
to take away from the focus of student achievement. The money can
be used elsewhere.
The board approved an annual salary of $155,000, which in only
$7,000 more than he was earning as assistant state superintendent.
Morton's predecessor, Ed Richardson, was earning approximately $171,000
when he left to take the position as interim president of Auburn
University. Morton's salary is approximately $15,712 less than the
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) appointed state superintendent
salary average of $170,712. Salaries of Appointed SREB Chief State
School Officers include:
- Mississippi = $234,000
- Florida = $232,000
- Arkansas = $200,700
- Kentucky = $191,075
- Louisiana = $180,000
- Maryland = $165,000
- Texas = $164,748
- Alabama = $155,000
- West Virginia = $146,100
- Virginia = $145,058
- Delaware = $133,600
- Tennessee = $101,268
IN THE NEWS
ADVOCATING FOR QUALITY TEACHING
http://capwiz.com/ascd/home/
If teacher leaders hope to share their expertise in education policy
debates, they need access to decision makers, information about
issues currently under debate, and perhaps advice about the best
ways to make their views known. The Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development (ASCD - publishers of "Educational
Leadership") has established an "Action Center for Quality
Teaching and Learning" where each of these needs can be met.
The Action Center is built on the powerful Capitol Advantage software
platform (used by many different advocacy groups) and tailored to
serve educational professionals who want their voices heard. Visit
the link above and enter your zip code to find contact information
for all of your state and federal elected officials. Click on "Issues"
to learn of current pending legislation. You'll even find a feature
that helps identify major (and some local) media outlets—follow
the steps to send a letter to the editor. Although sponsored by
ASCD, this service is currently available to anyone with WWW access.
Before you act, you may want to review the section "Communicating
with Elected Officials" for tips on strategy and protocol.
http://snipurl.com/8d7b
OVERHEARD
“When the Board approached me with the discussion about my
new contract and salary, I told them it was more important to me
to ensure the needs of education in Alabama were met instead of
personal gains for myself. I truly appreciated the confidence members
of our dedicated board have in me, but I declined a higher salary
offer so that it doesn’t become an issue, causing us to lose
our focus on improving the quality of student learning.”
—State Superintendent Joe Morton
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