SLIDE 1 1 Date: January 8, 2018 Submitted by: Tabitha Branum, Dr. Kristin Byno, and Elizabeth Swaner Background: The Richardson ISD College and Career Office report is conducted as a continuous improvement process and erves to identify strengths and challenges to help develop next steps. The College and Career Readiness office oversees AVID, Gifted and Talented, Naviance, Elementary to Junior High Transition, Advanced Placement, Dallas County Community College Dual Credit, University of Texas OnRamps, SAT, PSAT, ACT, TSI, and National Student Clearinghouse. KEY TERMS: These alphabetized key terms will help when reading the Executive Summary.
ACT - college readiness assessment is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States.
ACT Aspire Summative - a standards-based system of assessments to monitor progress toward college and career readiness.
Advanced Placement - created by College Board offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students.
APSI – Advanced Placement Summer Institutes provide teachers with at least 30 hours of pedagogical- and content-rich training designed to strengthen how they teach AP courses.
AVID - Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and other postsecondary opportunities.
AVID Excel - changes the trajectory of long-term English language learners in junior high by accelerating language acquisition, developing literacy, and placing AVID Excel students on the path to high school AVID and college-preparatory coursework.
DCCCD- Dallas County Community College District
Dual Credit - enrolls students in college courses while they are still in high school, allowing them to earn credit for both.
EBRW- Evidence Based Reading and Writing. On SAT and PSAT, College Board takes reading and writing together for
FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a form that can be prepared annually by current and prospective college students in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid.
Gifted and Talented (GT) - means a child or youth who performs at or shows the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience or environment and who:
exhibits high performance capability in an intellectual, creative or artistic area;
possesses an unusual capacity for leadership; or
excels in a specific academic field.
National Student Clearinghouse - is the leading provider of educational reporting, data exchange, verification, and research services to help track students’ progress in higher education opportunities outside of high school.
Naviance - is a college and career readiness solution that helps districts and schools align student strengths and interests to postsecondary goals, improving student outcomes and connecting learning to life.
PSAT - Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is a standardized test administered by the College Board and cosponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation in the United States.
PSAT 8/9-The PSAT 8/9 tests the same skills and knowledge as the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, and PSAT 10—in a way that makes sense for eighth and ninth graders.
RISD College and Career Readiness Program Executive Summary
SLIDE 2 2
SAT-Scholastic Aptitude Test - standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States provided by College Board.
TAFSA- Texas Application for State Financial Aid is used to collect information on Texas residence who are not US citizens to help determine eligibility for state financial aid programs that are administered by the state of Texas.
TSI- Texas Success Initiative – designed to help colleges or universities determine if students are ready for college-level course work in the general areas of reading, writing, and mathematics.
University of Texas OnRamps – innovative dual-enrollment program that brings rigorous courses aligned with the high standards and expectations of The University of Texas at Austin to thousands of students across Texas.
College and Career Student Support Programs
AVID: Elementary and Secondary RISD has 10 elementary schools that are designated as AVID sites. Due to changes in teachers and administrators at these campuses, the decision was made to refocus professional development at these campuses during 2017-2108. Teachers had an initial kick off training in August to begin the process of sharing AVID methodology. Follow up trainings were conducted throughout the fall and will continue into the spring as we work to rollout additional AVID learning strategies. There are 12 secondary schools that are designated as AVID sites. During 2016-2017, Richardson High School and Berkner High School were both awarded National Demonstration site status for 3 more years. The Class of 2017 had 98% of students apply to 4 year colleges and 91% of those students were accepted. 243 students earned $18.7 million in scholarships, which is an increase of $11.1 million from the Class of 2016. 4 Dell Scholarships were awarded and this is an increase of 3 from 2016. During 2017-2018 we have already seen AVID grow from 95 to 97 elective sections, 4 AVID teachers have been selected by their campuses to be STAAR nominees, Berkner and Richardson have been asked to field test the new AVID note taking strategies, and AVID has invited 10 of our secondary schools to apply for their Schoolwide Site of Distinction recognition. An AVID Schoolwide Site of Distinction represents the highest level of AVID implementation fidelity, demonstrating excellence in instructional practice and the promotion of college readiness schoolwide. This elite group of candidate schools represents less than 10% of all AVID middle and high schools worldwide. AVID Excel is provided to English Language Learners at Liberty, North and Parkhill junior highs. The program has expanded from 5 sections in 2016-2017 with 60 students to 11 sections in 2017-2018 with 142 students. North and Liberty have completed their first years with 8th graders and 70% of those students have continued with AVID in high school. Partnerships
UTD Work-Study program funds AVID tutors for our junior high AVID classes.
UTD Comet Tutors has 20 undergraduate students who are volunteering for tutorial sessions at Pearce High
- School. Pearce was chosen as the campus to begin this program due to their close proximity to UTD. Next
semester they hope to expand the program to Richardson High School. Their goals are to establish a scholarship fund, expand to AVID junior high schools, and create a “Comet Mentor” program where a Comet tutor will help AVID seniors through the entire college application process.
Free Tutoring Foundation connects financially disadvantaged students with free tutoring support in upper level
- subjects. Lake Highlands High School has just entered into a partnership with the Free Tutoring Foundation to
provide tutoring support to our students beginning in the spring 2018. Professional Development
RISD developed AVID Path Training during the summer of 2017 provided AVID methodology training for 31 elementary and 74 secondary RISD teachers.
Designated AVID elementary teacher professional development, is ongoing throughout 2017-2018 for AVID methodology and strategies.
Elementary and Secondary Counselors are being provided with AVID updates during their monthly counselor meetings.
9 RISD staff members have been certified as AVID staff developers.
SLIDE 3 3
1 RISD staff member has been certified as an AVID Excel staff developer.
AVID District directors’ workshop will be hosted at North JH spring of 2018.
Dallas area teacher and administrator, Path to Schoolwide Training, will be conducted in RISD in February 2018. Program Improvements
Working with campuses to better prepare and support tutors as they work to enhance our students learning.
Expand AVID methodology to elementary campuses, even if they are not designated as an AVID elementary site.
Working with UTD Comet Tutors to expand and support more secondary campuses. Challenges and Supports
Financial support to expand AVID to all elementary campuses and AVID Excel to all junior high campuses.
Training can be a challenge at our campuses due to staff turnover. Although we offer many trainings within RISD, it can be difficult to get staff members trained due to having to start programs all over at some campuses.
AVID Excel has had the challenge of getting the program started, getting teachers trained and recruiting students.
AVID Excel and AVID are not overseen by the same departments. AVID is overseen by AVID Director Joan Swim and AVID Excel is overseen by ESL Secondary Curriculum Director Veronica Escalante. It would be ideal to have both programs overseen by the AVID department with support from the ESL department.
If AVID were to expand to support more elementary campuses or become the lead for AVID Excel, AVID Director Joan Swim would need an AVID Specialist Level I to help direct and implement AVID strategies across more campuses and grade levels. Gifted and Talented: Gifted and Talented has entered into its third year of cohort courses for RISD secondary GT identified students. RISD continues to be an innovator for GT secondary services in the metroplex. Based on student qualifying scores at the junior highs, students have the opportunity to participate in 7th/8th GT Humanities (English and Social Studies), 7th/8th GT Science and 7th/8th GT elective called Investigations. At the high schools, students can participate in 9th GT Science and 9th/10th GT Humanities. All teachers of secondary GT are focused on helping students answer 4 essential questions about all content: What do I know? How do I know that I know it? What can I do with what I know? What should I do with what I know? These skills are designed to ensure that students have the following skill sets: ethical leadership, critical citizenship, effective empathy, cross- cultural competence, and powerful communication. Curriculum Curriculum has been written that aligns with the TEKS, College Board standards and the unique needs of our GT
- students. Learning experiences were designed around problems that meet at least one of the following criteria: Futuristic,
Controversial, Problematic/Multi-sided, Advanced, Complex/”Unsolvable”, and Relevant/Real-World. Humanities has been charged with strengthening the level of integration that happens between courses and design experiences based on student interest and choice. Science has been charged with focusing on three main areas- 1. Increasing the amount of inquiry students are engaged in and increasing student centered science education. 2. Focusing on the ethics of scientific extermination and science
- utcomes. 3. Focusing on application and interdisciplinary science.
Professional Development
Depth and Complexity training during the summer of 2017 for GT teachers.
GT teacher pull out days- teachers are trained once per quarter as vertical and horizontal teams. They focus on how content is selected and delivered in a way that is developmentally appropriate for GT students.
Administrators at all 4 high schools have received training for the “look fors” in a GT classroom that align with National Association for Gifted Children standards and T-TESS. Trainings for junior high campuses will begin during the spring semester.
GT professional development audits at all secondary campuses with GT, Pre-AP, and AP teachers in all subject areas in regards to completing their state mandated 30 hour or 6 hour update GT trainings.
SLIDE 4 4
6 hour GT update topics were moved from a curricular focus to a social emotional focus to meet the needs of our GT students. Community Communication
Brown Bag Luncheon with GT specialist to discuss direction and vision of GT and facilitate parent concerns.
GT Mentors- RISD is seeking to increase the number of mentors, speakers, and expert evaluators available to our GT students.
Student survey- The kids were asked to provide feedback about a variety of topics: specific courses, homework, sources of stress, etc. Students were also asked if they were happy and if they felt like their GT teachers understand them.
Parent Survey- In an effort to better understand parent concerns and questions, we invited them to provide feedback in our Parent Voice Survey.
GT newsletters are being distributed at least once a quarter to share with our community and to keep them informed about what is happening in Secondary GT. Program Improvements
GT teacher profile was created to help campuses during the hiring process as they identify potential GT
- teachers. Walk through forms were created to help administrators with “look fors” in the GT classrooms.
Increase in communication through the use of student and parent surveys, newsletters, and brown bag luncheons.
Working with and training elementary GT teachers on skills and supports to offer elementary students to ensure effective transition to secondary programming. Challenges and Supports
Each year we face the challenge of beginning a new set of GT courses at the high schools and preparing our teachers for the differences in GT Pre-AP/AP classrooms and non-GT Pre-AP/AP classrooms.
With each of these new courses come scheduling concerns. Many of the GT courses are taught only a few times a
- day. With the many different activities our GT students are involved in, it makes it difficult to align schedules where
all GT students can take all of the courses they would like along with their GT cohort courses.
We continue to create curriculum that meets the needs of the TEKS, AP standards and GT student learning styles. Naviance As part of our CCR priority goal of increasing the percentage of students who graduate with 3 hours of AP, Dual Credit, License or certification, we have used Naviance to help expose our students to career opportunities and college entrance requirements. Elementary and Junior High Student visits to Naviance in 6th -8th grades has increased by 4,417 from 9,395 in 2016 to 13,812 in 2017. Career and strength activities were completed by 3,428 students. It is important to get students acquainted with Naviance and career activities in the early grades so when they get to high school, the have an understanding of what career path to focus on and which course options are available. High School Student visits in Naviance increased in grades 9-12 by 9,848 from 71,023 in 2016 to 80,871 in 2017. Along with an increase in the number of visits to the Naviance site, we also saw an increase in the number of college applications that were
- completed. There was an increase of 185 from 7,338 in 2016 to 7,523 in 2017.
Program Improvements
Naviance representative came to RISD to train the College and Career Coordinators in July 2017.
Naviance representative is coming back to RISD in January to train elementary-high school counselors about student Naviance assignments.
Naviance representative will also train CTE teachers on career based student Naviance activities in January 2018.
College and Career Coordinators along with English III and English IV teachers are working together in January to teach students how to create resumes, write college admission essays and scholarship letters. Students will then learn how to upload their work to their Naviance accounts so it will be available for future use.
SLIDE 5 5
Students having 1:1 technology now allows for RISD staff to provide Naviance activities to students without having to secure technology labs. Challenges and Supports
Since Naviance began in RISD 4 years ago, none of the personnel who worked with the initial implementation of student activities at the campus level are currently still in those roles. Naviance is currently being reestablished in schools with student assignments and key users being trained.
Finding ways to work Naviance activities into student daily lessons so they can become more familiar with it and understand how it can benefit their knowledge of college and career opportunities. Transitional Activities Elementary to Junior High As students transition from 6th grade to junior high, we often see them exhibit high levels of anxiety. Many students are leaving a campus they might have been attending for 7 years and going to a new building, traveling to 8 different periods, picking classes, not walking in lines in the hall, and no longer have assigned seating at lunch. During 2016-2017, the CCR
- ffice sponsored the first 6th grade visits to junior highs during the school day to try and help ease the anxiety of our
- students. During the month of January, 6th graders were taken to their feeder junior high during the school day to experience
life as a 7th grader. They were given an opportunity to walk in the halls, try out a locker, learn about new elective courses they may not have experienced before, visit the lunchroom, meet teachers, and learn about AVID. Feedback we received from the event was not only positive from the students but also from junior high and elementary
- staff. Comments from an elementary counselor to a junior high principal, “Today was absolutely AWESOME. Your team did a
spectacular job of giving our students a taste of what they can expect in their 7th grade experience. I truly believe we have created a dramatic improvement in the overall transition process from 6-7th. I have stopped and talked with many students as well as our 6th grade teachers and we all agree today was a great success. The students reported learning so much from the tour, the presentations and it especially helped our students understand about PE and Athletics. I have a student right now telling me she loved being able to go into the girl’s locker room.” At the end of the year, 6th graders were also provided with a survey to complete in Naviance. The results from the survey were shared with junior high school counselors so they would have an insight into their incoming 7th grade students. Students were asked to provide feedback about the 6th grade trips to the junior highs, what their strongest and weakest subjects were in elementary school, what activities they were interested in, hobbies, and general information about their personal schedules. Junior High to High School Just like with the 6th graders going to junior high school, 8th graders were also asked to complete a Naviance transition survey from 8th grade to 9th grade. The results from the survey were shared with high school counselors so they would have an insight into their incoming 9th grade students. The survey posed questions such as what students looked forward to at high school, how they felt about attending high school, concerns or worries they had, activities they were interested in, plans after graduation and questions reflecting upon their time in junior high. To begin the transition to 9th grade, staff members from the high schools visit with each junior high campus during course registration to help with determining which classes to take and how to sign up for them. They also provide the opportunity for groups to visit with students and provide personal insight into their course choices. Members from AVID and AP Ambassadors share with students why they should explore rigorous coursework, how it has helped them during high school to feel more prepared for college, and the benefits of college financial savings that can be taken advantage of while in high school. Each high school also provides a night for parent and students to come and tour the campus, meet staff members, learn about courses, and club/activities they can participate in while in high school.
SLIDE 6 6 Community Communication
To help 6th grade parents and students learn more about opportunities at our junior highs, the CCR office provides families with a transitional newsletter. Transition 101 newsletter is provided to families 5 times throughout the school year as a way to provide them with information about meetings, course options, timelines, and just give a general insight into the world of secondary life.
Pre-AP and AP Parent Night provides a venue for parents and students to learn more about Pre-AP and AP courses from our curriculum directors and student panel. Program Improvements
Most people who attend the Pre-AP/AP Parent night are elementary level and not currently in junior high or high school courses. Due to the low secondary turnout, we found that trying to discuss other options for earning college credit, such as DCCCD dual credit and OnRamps, were not getting the attention they needed. In February of 2018, the CCR office will sponsor a College Credit Night for high school parents and students to learn more about AP, DCCCC dual credit and OnRamps course offerings at the high school campuses. Challenges and Supports
Providing information to all stakeholders in the district in a way that they are aware of the extensive opportunities for their children at the junior high and high school levels.
College and Career Student Data and Results
Texas Success Initiative – See Appendix A Participation – Overall Results Once again RISD funded the cost of TSI for all 10th grade students. The math portion of the TSI test was provided only to
- ur students on an accelerated math track who were enrolled in Pre-AP or on-level Algebra II. There was a decrease of
56 students who took the math portion from the spring of 2016 to 2017. The reading and writing portions of the test were provided to all students no matter what level of English courses they were enrolled in. Reading saw an increase in participation of 88 students and writing had an increase of 70 students. Performance – Overall Results TSI consists of 3 main sections which includes math, reading, and writing. RISD stayed the same in math at an average score of 360, remained the same in writing at an average score of 357 and had a slight dip in reading with an average score of 344. Participation – College Readiness Cut Scores Writing had an increase of 520 students due to the change in the cut score requirement. Reading also saw an increase
- f 22 students while math had a slight decrease of 38 students.
Performance – College Readiness Cut Scores The college readiness cut scores allow students to prove that they are at a college level and ready to begin college level work. If a student’s TSI mathematics, reading, or writing test scores are lower than the college readiness cut score for that subject, they may be placed in either a developmental course or an intervention to improve his/her skills. With the change that was made to the writing college cut score, there was a 21.5% increase in 2017 over 2016. Math increased by .8% and reading had a slight decrease of 2%. Program Improvements
Due to the cut score for Writing being changed, now more RISD students will have the opportunity to qualify for dual credit course work than in the past. Challenges and Supports
When students are not successful on a portion of the TSI, it has been difficult to find the time needed for remediation with all of the other supports that have already been established for course grades and EOC remediation.
SLIDE 7 7 Dual Credit- See Appendix B Participation Participation numbers for DCCCD dual credit courses were obtained between the fall of 2016 and summer of 2017. Due to many students taking more than one dual credit course and some courses being more than one semester long, we will report our participation rates as the number of seats for each course. During the 2016-2017 school year, the total seat rate for RISD students was a 1,058 between 6 different subjects.
Art- 5 seats
CTE- 179 seats
English – 536 seats
Math- 11 seats
Social Studies – 322 seats
World Languages/LOTE- 5 seats For the 2017-2018 school year, we currently have a seat rate of 519. This number will increase after students have an
- pportunity to attend summer classes in 2018. CTE has already shown an increase of 202 seats from 2016. This
increase is largely due to the expansion of the health science courses. Performance Performance numbers will be expressed as college credit hours earned. When course hours were calculated, they were done with the assumption that all courses were worth 3 college credit hours. During the 2016-2017 school year, RISD students earned a total of 3,174 college credit hours. DCCCD charges $177 per three hour course or $59 per credit hour. RISD students saved $204,966 in DCCCD tuition. Program Improvements
Worked in conjunction with DCCCD to streamline the process for students to apply for dual credit
- courses. This allowed for students and their counselors to have very specific conversations about
courses they were interested in taking.
Worked with RISD curriculum directors and DCCCD to audit our dual credit offerings. Due to this process, we tightened up our course offerings. Challenges and Supports
DCCCD has expressed a concern for the availability of dual credit teachers from their campuses to work with our
- students. Due to so many campuses in the area now offering Early College High Schools and P-TECHs, they no
longer have the number of teachers needed to support the high school campuses.
RISD does not currently have enough teachers with master’s degree to teach our DCCCD dual credit courses on campus.
RISD is beginning to explore options for providing assistance for our teachers to acquire their master’s degree and be eligible to teach dual credit courses. Teachers with master's degrees need to be provided with additional stipends for acquiring these degrees and teaching these courses.
RISD needs to allow for the CCR office to use funds that are provided by DCCCD from our student enrollment in dual credit courses to fund teachers obtaining their master’s degree.
RISD was not able to provide bus transportation this year for students who were taking courses on the Richland
- campus. This meant that students who did not have transportation back and forth between Richland and their home
campus had to find other ways to receive college credit course work through either AP, DCCCD dual credit on campus (if it was available), or OnRamps courses.
With the removal of AP and dual credit overlay courses, students now have to choose between taking a course for AP or dual credit. Quality points are not the same for AP and dual credit courses. AP receives 10 points and dual credit only receives 5 points. Many students opted to take courses for AP versus dual credit and this greatly reduced
- ur number of dual credit offerings at the high school campuses.
TSI is a barrier for many of our students who would like to take dual credit courses. If a student does not test at a college ready level score, they have to retest to try and qualify to take a dual credit course.
SLIDE 8 8 OnRamps – See Appendix C Participation OnRamps college courses do not require students to take the TSI exam as a prerequisite to be eligible for course
- work. Students have until the last day of the class to claim their credit or drop without penalty. All OnRamps courses
are aligned to the Texas Core Curriculum (TCC). The OnRamps course catalog includes 30 TCC semester credit hours, with more in development including College Algebra and Chemistry. During RISD’s first year of OnRamps courses in 2016-2017, 468 students took 5 different college courses. In 2017- 2018, UT and RISD added two one semester courses called US History 1492-1865 and US History Since 1865. RISD currently has 577 students taking 7 different college courses which is a 160 seat rate increase from 661 in 2016 to 771 in 2017. Performance 40% of all RISD students attempting college credit hours were successful with 234 college credit hours being
- earned. Intro to Rhetoric (English 1301) and Rhetoric of American Identity (English 1302) were the courses where
students earned the most credit hours. Upon conclusion of all OnRamps courses, RISD students saved $257,000 in University of Texas at Austin tuition. Beginning in 2017-2018, TEA has designated that all students who successfully complete an OnRamps course for high school credit can be counted towards their schools’ College and Career Readiness Military domain in the 2018- 2019 school report card. Professional Development OnRamps teachers are not required to have a master’s degree and they receive over 80 hours of professional development by attending a two-week summer professional learning institute along with fall and spring one day workshops that help to cultivate a community of practice. Teachers learn advanced content, develop skills in implementing college-aligned pedagogy, and use the same digital tools as full-time faculty at The University of Texas at Austin. Recognition During this first year of partnership with OnRamps, RISD had not one but two teachers who were honored as OnRamps Instructors of the Year. These teachers were selected by OnRamps staff as the top instructors in their subject areas based upon unprecedented excellence within the 4-pillars of OnRamps, which include: College Content, Innovative Pedagogy, Technology Enhanced Education and Educator Excellence. These winners were Dante Schmidt from Lake Highlands High School in Rhetoric, and Tobi Brooks from Pearce High School in Pre- Calculus. Program Improvements
Having had OnRamps on our campuses during the 2016-2017 school year, teachers, counselors and administrators had a better idea of what the courses were about and what kind of students might excel in this type of learning
- environment. Due to this, campuses did a better job of identifying students for OnRamps courses.
Added two new US History courses at each high school for 2017-2018 for a total of 7 sections.
Submitted request to UT asking that we be allowed to add 4 new courses in the 2018-2019 school year; Chemistry, College Algebra, Statistics and Arts & Entertainment Technology. Challenges and Supports
Although OnRamps courses are as rigorous as AP courses, they do not receive the same quality points. AP courses receive 10 points and OnRamps courses only receive 5 points. Due to this, we have some students who are not taking advantage of the opportunity to earn UT college credit because they will not receive the same amount of quality points as they would for an AP course and their GPA and rank.
SLIDE 9 9 Advanced Placement- See Appendix D Participation In 2017, a total of 3,123 RISD students took 6,060 AP exams; an increase of 121 exams over 2016. The number of AP exams taken by RISD students continued to increase for the fifth consecutive year, following the national trend.
Students may take more than one AP exam during the year and the number of students taking one or more exams decreased slightly (-21 students).
Participation by students identifying themselves as African American and Hispanic remained steady in 2017.
RISD declined in the proportion of AP students taking corresponding AP exams at 87% in 2017. Each of the high schools showed a similar decline in the proportion of AP students taking corresponding AP exams in 2017.
RISD participated in 34 of 37 exams offered in the spring of 2017. Performance In 2017, RISD (53%) scored below the nation (58%) in the proportion of AP exams with grades of 3, 4, or 5. However, RISD (53%) scored above the state (46%) in the proportion of AP exams of 3, 4, or 5.
RISD did surpass the nation in passing rates on 14 of the 34 AP exams taken by students.
RISD also surpassed the state in passing rates on 23 of the 34 AP exams taken by students.
Richardson (59%) outperformed the nation in the proportion of AP exams with grades of 3, 4 or 5 followed by Pearce (56%), Lake Highlands (51%), and Berkner (40%). Curriculum and Curriculum Based Assessments
AP teachers in the core subjects came together during the spring and summer of 2017 to align their syllabus and scope and sequence so that curriculum based assessments could be administered during 2017-2018.
AP Data Analysis forms will begin in the spring of 2018.
CBA’s are providing teachers with information about areas of student success and strengths. This information allows for immediate remediation of topics.
CBA’s are also providing us with information about teachers who might be struggling so we can provide them immediate support. Professional Development
During the summer of 2017, 96 AP and Pre-AP teachers attended AP Summer Institutes.
To help provide teachers with more opportunities for APSI trainings, the schedule for APSI trainings has been reworked so teachers will now have the opportunity to attend every 3 years instead of the 4 year rotation they were
In some of our areas of most need, Cal AB, Cal BC, Eng. III, Eng. IV, and Physics, we have located additional trainings that these teachers are attending. On November 10th and 11th, 12 math teachers attended an AP College Board workshop in Dallas for Statistics, Calculus AB, Calculus BC and Computer Science. In February, science teachers will be sent to AP College Board workshops taking place here in Dallas.
English, Spanish, social studies, math, and science teachers will be provided with training opportunities in February at TCU during their AP Spring Seminars.
All high school building principals and assistant principals over AP have met with the Executive Director of CCR and their feeder pattern Executive Director to look through teacher data for AP scores over multiple years, CBA data, course grades vs. AP exam grades, campus demographics vs. AP demographics, and future teacher trainings. Program Improvements
Calibrated grading assessments were conducted in 2016-2017 for AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics I, II and C, AP Biology, AP English III and AP English IV.
Calibrated grading assessments will be conducted during 2017-2018 for AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics I and C, AP Biology, AP English III, AP English IV, AP US History, AP Human Geography, and AP World History, AP Cal AB and AP Cal BC.
The AP Summer Institute training schedule has been reworked so that teachers can now attend every 3 years instead of every 4 years. We will continue to send all new teachers as soon as they are hired by RISD and not make them wait until their rotation year to get trained.
AP Curriculum Based Assessments are providing immediate information about teachers and students who might be struggling so we can provide them immediate support.
SLIDE 10 10 Challenges and Supports
Limited opportunities for AP level trainings for all AP subject level teachers in the immediate Dallas area.
Changing the mindset of AP teachers as to why it is beneficial to provide common assessments and analyze data on a continual basis.
Due to the increase in AP enrollment across the state and the need to train more teachers, TEA is considering no longer funding the AP Summer Institute reimbursements we receive for Pre-AP and AP teachers who attend APSI trainings during the summer. For teachers who attended APSI during the summer of 2017, TEA reduced our reimbursements this fall without any forewarning. We will continue to monitor the future of these reimbursements but if they are removed, this could be a funding concern for RISD and providing this training.
In the past, school districts have been given the full control over their Pre-AP courses, curriculum and training
- pportunities. College Board recently announced that they will begin to oversee Pre-AP courses, like they currently
do AP courses. This means to earn designation for a course, schools will have to align instruction to the course requirements, administer the College Board digital assessments, take part in professional learning, and offer the course with open access. College Board will charge approximately $5,200 per course. ACT- See Appendix E Participation The Class of 2017 is the fourth graduating class where RISD has paid for all students to take the ACT college entrance exam during their junior year. Results on the ACT exam show the RISD participation rate dipped slightly after reaching a five-year high in 2015. However, Hispanic participation did increase slightly from 33% in 2016 to 35% in 2017. Performance- Composite Score and Subject Test After three years of declining scores, RISD average scale scores on all four ACT subject- area tests and Composite score showed a significant increase. The increase was also seen for all campuses in nearly all subject-area tests. In many areas, average scores represent the highest scores in the last four years.
Largest increase in composition scores was seen by Lake Highlands with 1.25%, next was Richardson with .8%, Pearce .7% and Berkner .4%. Four subject tests are provided on the ACT, RISD students showed an increase in all tested areas.
Increases of 1.0% in Reading, .9% in Science, .6% in English, and .4% in Math. Performance- College Readiness Benchmarks ACT encourages educators to measure student performance in the context of college readiness. ACT College Readiness Benchmark Scores (CRBs) are the minimum scores needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses. CRBs as defined by ACT: English=18, Mathematics=22, Reading=22, Science=23.
RISD students showed performance in 2017 at or above the state in Mathematics, Science, and Met All Four.
RISD students showed equal performance to the nation in Mathematics in 2017. Program Improvements
To help align student data and have a consistent means of measuring college readiness, the decision was made to move to the ACT testing platform for students in RISD.
High school administrators, lead counselors and curriculum directors, in the core subjects, all received an ACT update in regards to district and campus results from the spring of 2017.
In the fall of 2017, 8th grade students took the ACT Aspire Summative for reading, writing and math.
RISD sponsored ACT test prep class is being offered to students, at a minimal cost, during the month of March leading up to their April test date.
Spring of 2018, juniors will be provided with a full ACT test that includes the writing portion. Challenges and Supports
The challenge we face is getting teachers, students, and parents to understand the importance of the ACT based test when we are already testing for STAAR, AP, and PSAT.
Aligning curriculum to ACT.
SLIDE 11
11 PSAT 8/9 – See Appendix F Participation RISD provided funding for all 8th grade students to be administered the PSAT 8/9 in the fall of 2016. There was a slight decrease in participation from 2,655 students testing in 2015 to 2,606 in 2016. Performance RISD students saw an increase in their total over all scores from 808 in 2015 to 828 in 2016. The students of RISD outscored the state by 23 points and the nation by 14 points.
36% of all RISD students met in both EBRW and Math, this was a 1% increase from fall of 2015.
Mean test scores in Math increased by 13 points in 2015 to 2016.
EBRW mean test scores also saw an increase of 7 points from 2015 to 2016.
The total mean test scores increased by 20 points from 808 in 2015 to 828 in 2016.
Lake Highlands Junior High had the largest increase in Math and EBRW mean total scores in 2016 by 55 points, West 32 points, Forest Meadow 30 points, Parkhill 27 points, North 13 points, Liberty 3 points, Westwood 2 points and Apollo saw a slight decrease of 2 points. PSAT/NMSQT Sophomores- See Appendix G Participation RISD provided funding for all 10th grade students to be administered the PSAT/NMSQT in the fall of 2016. There was a slight decrease in participation from 2,425 students testing in 2015 to 2,411 in 2016. Performance RISD total scores remained the same at 923 from 2015 to 2016. The students of RISD did outscore the state by 15 points but remained behind the nation by 14 points.
40% of all RISD students met in both EBRW and Math, this was a 2% increase from fall of 2015.
EBRW mean test scores had an increase of 5 points from 2015 to 2016.
Mean test scores in Math had a slight decrease of 5 points from 2015 to 2016.
The largest mean total score increase from 2015 to 2016 was at Lake Highlands with 15 points, Richardson 6 points, Berkner 1 point and Pearce had a 20 point decrease. Juniors- See Appendix H Participation Total number of RISD juniors who tested increased by 53 students from 678 in 2015 to 731 in 2016. All 4 RISD high school campuses saw an increase in the number of juniors tested with Berkner having the largest increase with 65 juniors, Richardson 40 juniors, Pearce 19 juniors and Lake Highlands with 6 juniors. Performance RISD students saw an increase in their total over all scores from 1106 in 2015 to 1129 in 2016. The students of RISD outscored the state by 158 points and the nation by 111 points.
71% of all RISD juniors met in both EBRW and Math, this is an increase of 10% from the fall of 2015.
EBRW mean total scores increased by 13 points from 555 in 2015 to 568 in 2016.
Mean total math scores increased by 10 points from 551 in 2015 to 561 in 2016.
The total mean test score increased by 23 points from 1,106 in 2015 to 1,129 in 2016.
Lake Highlands had the largest mean total score increase of 79 points, followed by and Pearce with 58 points, Richardson 10 points and Berkner had a decrease of 83 points. National Merit Recognition Class of 2017 had 57 students who were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as National Merit Commended, National Hispanic or National Merit Finalists. The Class of 2018 has been notified that there are 39 Commended students, 12 National Hispanic and 13 Semifinalist. The Class of 2018 has seen a NMSQT increase of 7 students from the Class of 2017, increase of 10 from the Class of 2016, and an increase of 16 from the Class of 2015.
SLIDE 12 12 Superintendent’s Scholar Academy Future scholars in 7th and 8th grade were invited to attend the Second Annual Superintendent’s Scholar Academy during the summer of 2017. Students were invited to this camp based on Duke Tip, STAAR, and/or PSAT 8/9 scores from the fall of
- 2016. At the camp students interpreted and analyzed various types of information, PSAT test-taking techniques, time-
management, logical reasoning, verbal ability, and mathematical competency. There were 65 students who attended this 10 day camp. High School – Superintendent’s Scholar Academy To help increase future National Merit Scholarship opportunities, a concerted effort was made with the Class of 2019 to target students with potential PSAT/NMSQT scores from 10th grade and provide them with support to prepare for the 11th grade PSAT/NMSQT. Students who scored a 165-228 on their 10th grade PSAT/NMSQT were invited to participate in a PSAT prep camp called the High School Superintendent’s Scholar Academy. One camp was held during July and another during
- September. We had 185 students attend these prep camps with 111 students who then participated in the PSAT/NMSQT mock
test that was given on September 30. Program Improvements
Identification of potential scholars and intentional tutoring is being provided to prepare for PSAT testing.
Beginning the process of identifying potential scholars in junior high and providing opportunities for these students to practice and prepare for testing at the high school level. Challenges and Supports
Providing opportunities for students to receive PSAT test prep that will fit into their busy schedules. Summer trainings interfere with summer plans, band camps, athletics and fall trainings interfere with many of the same types
Getting 9th and 10th grade students and parents to understand the importance of linking their College Board accounts to Khan Academy for free PSAT practice.
Some of our feeder patterns do not have many students who are scoring on their preliminary testing at potential scholar levels. Due to this, it is hard to get students caught up and to National Merit levels by the time they are juniors. SAT – See Appendix I Participation Overall, RISD student participation on the SAT declined slightly compared to 2016 participation (-20 students). However, participation for students identifying themselves as Asian and Hispanic increased from 2016 rates. The RISD Class of 2017 participation on the SAT test was 52% based on the number of tested students divided by the number of graduates. This rate is slightly below the Class of 2016 and the lowest over the last four years. Despite this trend, the participation for Pearce (+2%) and Richardson (+7%) rose from 2016 participation. Performance- Combined Scores The mean SAT combined score for RISD (1118) exceeded the state (1019) and national (1070) averages for 2017. The average SAT combined score for 2017 was higher than the concorded combined score for 2016 (1110). Performance of RISD students has consistently exceeded the state and nation over that same time period. Performance- Subject Areas The average SAT subject area scores for RISD in evidence-based reading and writing (558) and mathematics (560) were higher than both the state and nation. When comparing current scores to the prior years’ concorded scores, RISD students have consistently performed higher than the state and nation in both subject areas. The average performance in SAT subject areas was above the state for all campuses in both subject areas. RISD campuses were also above the nation in mathematics and nearly all were above the nation in EBRW. Even with the change in SAT format, nearly all campuses showed improvement across both subject areas compared to 2016 performance.
SLIDE 13 13 Program Improvements
College Board has announced that all low income students who test using fee waivers will be allowed to send unlimited SAT score reports to schools beginning the spring of 2018. Challenges and Supports
Resources for RISD SAT preparatory courses
Training on SAT materials for teachers who provide instruction for preparatory courses FAFSA- See Appendix J Participation In October 2017, all four RISD high schools hosted joint FAFSA/TAFSA events called, “Big Money! Big Dreams!” at the Arzell Ball Center. Representatives from the University of Texas at Dallas G Force, University of North Texas, Brookhaven College, Texas Lutheran University, Texas A&M University, and George Mason provided support to approximately 135 RISD families in completing FAFSA/TAFSA and college applications. Families attending RISD sponsored FAFSA/TAFSA events increased by 35% from 2016 to 2017. Performance Throughout the remainder of the school year, each high school will continue to host FAFSA/TAFSA events on their campuses to continue to support RISD families as they secure financial aid. From 2015 to 2017, RISD has increased FAFSA completion rates by 9%. Largest increase was seen by Berkner and Pearce both with 9%, Richardson with 8% and Lake Highlands with 4%. The FAFSA application process for 2017 began on October 1. As of December 8, 2017, RISD has already seen an
- verall increase of 5% in the number of completed FAFSA applications from (31%) the same time last year when it
was 26%. From December 8, 2016, to December 8, 2017, Pearce has shown an increase of 10%, Berkner 7%, Richardson 1% and Lake Highlands remained the same. Program Improvements
When the change was made for FAFSA applications to begin being accepted on October 1, this allowed for parents and students to use tax returns from a previous year. No longer did they have to complete taxes in early January to use the current year’s information with the application.
Each high school campus provides FAFSA events throughout the school year to provide support for completing the application process. Challenges and Supports
Many RISD students are eligible for financial aid but are concerned about applying for it due to being non-US citizens.
TAFSA application numbers are not collected and reported to the school districts. This means that RISD students who take advantage of TAFSA financial aid are not reported back into our overall numbers as students who are receiving some sort of financial aid for higher education. National Student Clearinghouse- See Appendix K Participation RISD participates in the National Student Clearinghouse to secure information about students who have graduated and track their progress in higher educational opportunities. Information collected in National Student Clearinghouse is student self –reported. If RISD graduates do not give permission to their higher education provider to share their data, RISD will not have access to it. Performance The Class of 2017 had a total 2,112 graduating seniors which was an increase of 187 students from the Class of
- 2016. Even with the increase in the total number of graduates, Richardson had an increase of 35 students and Lake
Highlands an increase of 19 students who began college immediately following graduation. Berkner saw a decrease of 25 students and Pearce a decrease of 10 students.
SLIDE 14
14 Program Improvements
Counselors and College and Career Coordinators have a focused effort on iApply activities with students who have not applied to college during the spring of 2018. Challenges and Supports
It is a challenge to obtain accurate information for National Student Clearinghouse data when it is student reported. If students do not provide their college with the opportunity to collect and share their data, then schools do not get accurate data to work with.
