Here's a big APlus Happy Birthday to our state policy markers who celebrated a birthday 🎂 this week:
Rep. David Smith (Dec. 1)
Rep. Jeff Boatman for Oklahoma House, District 67 (Dec. 2)
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Since 2019 Oklahoma School Report Cards were issued a few short weeks ago, we’ve heard from a wide range of leaders cautioning their use as an accurate tool for measuring student success.
Those criticizing the report cards rightly point out that the needs of a school’s student population are impacted by factors that can’t be controlled by teachers and school administration.
Things like poverty, a high percentage of English Language Learners (ELL) and chronic absenteeism do indeed impact student success. What some miss though, is that the State School Report Cards already account for these when the grades are figured.
According to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 29 percent of Oklahoma students are reading proficient in fourth grade. This year, 46 percent of Oklahoma students didn’t meet a single ACT benchmark. In addition, 33 percent of schools saw a decrease of a letter grade on their school report card this year.
These statistics are incredibly troubling, especially when you know that each number represents a child with a bright future that gets dimmer by the day. No matter what numbers or measurements you use, it’s obvious our children are not learning the skills necessary to successfully enter the workforce, making it more difficult for them to lead a fulfilling life.
That’s why recent attacks on the Oklahoma School Report Cards are so disheartening. Instead of working to change the numbers, many would rather break the measuring stick. Despite the criticism from naysayers, the reality is that the school report cards are a vital accountability tool, providing families and communities insight into how their local school is performing and a comparison to others around the state.
Our CEO, Jan Barrick's column in The Oklahoman: "The crux of the matter is simple. We can have the best standards ever written, but if they aren’t being used, nothing changes. When students use textbooks written for Common Core, they are not prepared for the questions that will be asked by the state of Oklahoma in the spring."
Article published Wed., Dec 18, 2019
by Jan Barrick
In The Oklahoman
There’s an old expression that goes like this: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”
"Emerson Elementary began using AlphaPlus during the 2015-2016 school year. Our reading and math scores had consistently been in the mid to low 60s on our A-F report with an overall grade of 66 in 2014-2015 and 73 in 2015-2016. After we began using the AlphaPlus program, we saw tremendous gains in our reading and math scores. We are currently projecting our report card to be an 81 and attribute our gains to using the AlphaPlus program. The pacing calendars developed by AlphaPlus ensure that all objectives are taught and assessed before test time rolls around. The data provided by the formative and summative assessments helped us identify weaknesses and focus on those skills during our remediation time, and ultimately, our test prep time at the end of the year. Data became our friend and it should become yours as well! I highly recommend AlphaPlus for any school looking to increase student performance on the end of year exams." - Greg Davidson, Superintendent, Coalgate
"Alpha Plus develops their own curriculum and practice tests based on state standards, unlike most companies who use only general curriculum." –Renee Dove, Principal, Okmulgee Elementary School
"After 30 years of teaching I didn’t think I could find a better way to use my assessment data. Alpha Plus methods have taught me so much this year." –Jeannie Struss, 4th grade teacher, Duncan
We Use Data to Empower Schools for Academic Success!
Teachers and administrators can quickly and easily identify students who need more help learning the Oklahoma Academic Standards.
Alpha Plus pinpoints the SPECIFIC OAS objectives or "gaps" students have from previous years, then helps school teams address each objective throughout the year.
That is why Alpha Plus schools have OUTPERFORMED the state average every year of the A-F Report Cards.
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