Scottsdale schools demonstrate academic excellence

Nearly 75 percent of the schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) are “excelling” or “highly performing” according to achievement profiles released today by the Arizona Department of Education.

Specifically, 19 out of 30 schools—63 percent—received the “excelling” designation, three schools were designated “highly performing,” and eight schools were ranked “performing.”

“These distinctions clearly show that the Scottsdale Unified School District is well on its way to setting the standard in Arizona for world-class education,” said Superintendent Barbara F. Erwin.

“We are focused on helping all of our students and schools show measurable gains every year and today’s rankings are a success story for the Scottsdale school district,” she said.

“Our mission is to have 100 percent of our schools on track toward achieving the excelling profile and 100 percent of all of our students demonstrating measurable gains every year. We are focusing our efforts on individual student achievement. Principals, teachers, and our entire staff are working very hard to help all of our students progress each year,” Dr. Erwin said.

“Katy Cavanagh, our academic officer, and Joanne Bauman, our executive director of research and assessment are working closely with principals and teachers to use data from these profiles to pinpoint areas for improvement,” Dr. Erwin said.

Schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District, the eighth largest public school district in the state, routinely rank among the highest achieving schools. District test scores are usually well above the state average.

“We rank high for several reasons,” noted Dr. Bauman. “One reason is that we are focused on individual student achievement. We teach principals and teachers how to use data, including test scores, to identify where we need to work even harder.”

“Another reason we rank high is the tremendous amount of parent involvement. We have a high graduation rate and a low absentee rate. That speaks well for our parents and our students,” Dr. Bauman said.

“And, we have tremendous bench strength in our faculty. Our teachers are achievers in their own rights, and that transfers to our students,” she said.

Dr. Bauman noted that only 30 of the 33 schools in the district received achievement profiles from the state today. She explained that three schools in the district were not ranked: Copper Ridge elementary and middle schools are too new to be adequately ranked; and Sierra Vista Academy, a small alternative school, also is not ranked at this time.

In addition to the these rankings, also known as the Arizona Learns (AZ Learns) achievement profiles, the state department of education released today a list of schools that made adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

All of the SUSD schools made adequate yearly progress based on academics. The data shows that eight schools will need to work harder next year to make sure at least 95 percent of students take the AIMS test, said Mrs. Cavanagh, SUSD’s academic officer.

“There are several components to achieve the federal adequate yearly progress, and if a school misses just one of the components it does not make the AYP designation,” explained Mrs. Cavanagh. “While all of our schools made the academic portion and showed academic growth, eight of our schools did not have 95 percent of the students tested on AIMS per subgroups.”

“This provides us with an opportunity to raise the awareness level about the importance of NCLB, and to focus on having all students take the AIMS test,” Mrs. Cavanagh said.

In order to make this happen, the state already has increased the number of make-up days for high school students, and the district is allowing three make-up days for elementary and middle school students.

“This will better ensure that all students have an adequate opportunity to take the AIMS test, and allow for their school to meet the federal NCLB requirements,” Mrs. Cavanagh noted.

Additional information about Arizona Learns and AYP data is available on the Arizona Department of Education’s Web site at: http://www.ade.state.az.us/researchpolicy/

Information about No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is available on the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site at: http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml

Scottsdale’s 2003 achievement profiles from the Arizona Department of Education are printed below, and will be available this week on the SUSD Web site at: http://www.susd.org/district/currinstruction/assess.html

HIGH SCHOOLS
Excelling: Arcadia, Chaparral, Desert Mountain, Saguaro.
Performing: Coronado.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Excelling: Cocopah, Desert Canyon Middle, Ingleside, Mountainside.
Highly Performing: Mohave.
Performing: Supai.

ELEMENTARY AND K-8 SCHOOLS
Excelling: Anasazi, Aztec, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Cochise, Desert Canyon Elementary, Hopi, Kiva, Laguna, Pima, Sequoya.
Highly Performing: ANLC, Zuni.
Performing: Hohokam, Navajo, Pueblo, Tavan, Tonalea, Yavapai.
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