~article from The Sturgis News
The Union County Board of Education was hosted by UCHS Monday night with themeeting kicked off with a ribbon cutting. UCHS principal Evan Jackson welcomed the board and guests to the official grand opening and ribbon cutting for the school’s college/career ready center which has been established as part of the Kid Friendly grant the district received. The program is spearheaded by college counselor Ellie Wright who is working to prepare students for college or a career. The new center has both an office area and a coffee house. The office area will focus on providing teachers with resources while the coffee house will serve as a place for students to gather and discuss their futures and work on plans.
Following the ribbon cutting, the board meeting was called to order by Jim Ricketts. Following the recognition of this month’s community supporter (see related story) the board heard reports from Superintendent Patricia Sheffer. Sheffer provided updates on the district delivery targets, the TELL survey results and asked the board to pass a resolution urging the Kentucky General Assembly to restore education funding (see related story).
In her report on delivery targets, Sheffer noted that the district “needs to work on each target to stay on track” to meet state expectations for proficiency. She provided data which shows combined reading and math K-Prep scores with the percentage of students scoring proficient. Locally, students at the high school scored above their delivery target during 2013 testing recording a score of 36.6 percent proficient, well above the target of 32.6 percent. The target for 2014 testing is set at 40.1 for local high school students. Neither the elementary or middle school students met their delivery targets in 2013, but Sheffer noted that district personnel is working diligently to make the necessary improvement to meet delivery targets at those levels. “We’ve made progress, but we have to stay ontarget,” Sheffer said.
Sheffer also reviewed the Professional Growth Effectiveness System implementation plan with the board. Morganfield is presently serving as a pilot program for the district with all schools/personnel becominginvolved in the 2014-15 school year. The plan is a new principal/teacher evaluation tool that is mandated by the state and will require training, surveys, and activities which must be completed by school personnel. Beginning next year, all principals will be evaluated based on the PPGES system.
In other matters, Sheffer provided an update on the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning Survey (TELL). The survey gives certified staff the opportunity to assess a number of areas of instruction and school environment. Locally, results show that teachers are more satisfied now with the district than they were two years ago. The only areas which lag behind are “access to instructional technology”and “access to a broad range of professional support personnel.” Sheffer reported, “As a district we are working on those areas.”
Steve Carter reported that attendance for the second month of school was 95.34 percent.
In other reports, Holly Keeney reviewed the first unit of common assessment data with the board. Common assessments were given earlier this month in grades three through eight and at some levels in the high school. The data shows district personnel at what level students are performing and affords teachers the opportunity to determine which students need additional help and in what areas. The assessments show distinguished, proficient, apprentice and novice levels of achievement. The scores shared Monday night reflect the first instructional unit of the year, Keeney said. The program allows intervention to occur immediately so that students can attain proficiency in all areas. Keeney told the board that the district goal is to develop assessments for all courses, and to allow teachers in all grades immediate access to achievement data.
The board also heard a report from Malinda Beauchamp on the KIP survey. That document allows educators to gather information in a number of areas, but due to the length of the report (71pages) Beauchamp shared the results of the student survey regarding alcohol, tobacco and marijuana/prescription drugs use. The survey reflects students’ perceptions of how their parents feel about the topic, how many of them have used the substances, and how often they use the substances. The survey allows district personnel to measure local student percentages against those statewide and in the region.
Counselor Ellie Wright and two students, Will Potts and Baylee Jones, as well as two teachers provided the board an update on the UCHS ACT Action plan. That plan focuses on ways to improve college/career readiness as well as ACT scores. A group of students along with Wright have developed the plan which includes Arrow Week, a week that focuses on career ready skills. It also includes a student developed survey on how student achievement can be improved. The program includes interventions to help students improve academically and allows for students who have accepted leadership roles to develop a rewards system for students who meet established criteria. A complete review of the program will appear in next week’s The Sturgis News.
After hearing the financial report, the board approved nine consent items including Red Cross Shelter agreements, CBE funding study, and an ABA contract and gym monitors.