|
|
The Nevada School Board received a list of goals Monday. The list was compiled by various committees in the district that reviewed the progress on last year's goals and offered suggestions for the upcoming year. As written by Nancy Port, school curriculum director, in her notes to the board: "The intent is to make academic progress at all grade levels; however, we are asked to identify specific areas. The areas chosen were those that were the lowest in that particular building in science, reading and math."
At the elementary school, much attention will be given to the incoming fourth grade class, with the goal of seeing that group of students improve on the percentage of students who are proficient in reading, which was at 78.6 percent in third grade. The incoming fourth graders will also be observed in math, hoping to improve on their third grade proficiency percentage of 73.1 percent.
At the middle school, the incoming seventh grade class will be given special attention. The goals are to improve the seventh graders in reading by bringing up their sixth grade percentage of 68.2 percent proficient. And in math, the seventh graders will be looking to improve on a sixth grade proficiency score of 75.7.
At the high school, math and science improvements will be the focus of the incoming 10th grade class. The goal is to see the sophomores improve their math proficiency from a score of 75.1 percent last year, and to see them improve their science proficiency from 75 percent last year. Also at the high school, the incoming 11th grade class will be watched in math, as the district hopes to see that group improve on its 10th grade proficiency rating of 79.6 percent.
Board member David Laird asked, "What will be done differently by adopting these goals?"
High School Principal Ray Murray said the administrative team has been meeting for a year and really thinks they have more of a focus coming into this next school year. "We want a higher level of success by everyone, and in order to do that, we have to use differentiation," he said. "So, we came up with building goals ... and individual teacher development plans that must be filled out each year."
Murray told the board that the administrative team believes there are a lot of things they can do professionally, and through collaboration, for all the kids in the district. "We can name these kids, and look at each one of these kids (who's struggling)," he said.
Elementary Principal Kathy Goecke said the elementary teachers, who started Just Right reading last year, will continue that reading initiative and get more specific on student needs with additional instructional support. She said a supplement, called Reading Mastery, will be used for kids who don't respond to the typical reading instruction. "We're looking at those kinds of angles, so if the typical or the core is not enough, what do we need to supplement that with for some of our kids. And we're going to deliver that through Just Right reading," she said.
In cognitively guided math (CGI), Goecke said the elementary instructors are going to expand on what they're doing. "We've just gotten our feet wet, and (now) we're going to ask people to jump in the deep end."
Goecke said there would be time devoted to looking at specific children and the progress they are making. "We will look at the name, we look at where that child is at, and we are going to monitor some of these (children) weekly, some monthly...," she said.
Murray noted that one of the reasons the administrators are taking the initiative to work together as a team district-wide on these goals is because they believe that today's students are dealing with more baggage. "It really doesn't matter why (they are dealing with it)," he said, "we just need to take this on." Murray said that because of the things today's kids are dealing with, they may need more tools to be successful.
