Mr. Beckeman's Blog

December 15, 2011

Lexile Measures Improving at R-PHS

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,Documenting Results,Parents,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Uncategorized — Mr. Beckeman @ 8:15 am

As you read the title of this post, you might wonder what exactly is a Lexile measure.  I can help with this! 

The Purpose of Lexile Measurements are:

  • To assess the reading difficulty of texts
  • To assess student’s ranges of reading comprehension
  • To predict how well a student is likely to comprehend a particular text

If a student’s Lexile score and a textbook’s Lexile are the same (or very close to the same), you can expect the student to read and comprehend 75% of the material presented.

What is a Lexile and how is it determined?

A Lexile measure is an indicator of how difficult a text is to comprehend based upon:

  • Word Frequency (not frequency in passage but in English language)
  • Sentence length (best predictor of the difficulty of a sentence is its length)

What doesn’t a Lexile measure?

  • Content
  • Quality
  • Complexity (syntax, irony, symbolism, etc.)
  • Jargon
  • Interest
  • Design

What comprehension skills are tested?

  • Paraphrase information in passage
  • Drawing conclusions from a passage
  • Making inferences
  • Identifying supporting details
  • Making generalizations from passage

The data for the class of 2015, 2014, 2013 are presented in the links below:

9th Grade Proficiency Summary Report

10th Grade Proficiencey Summary Report

11th Grade Proficiencey Summary Report

A quick synopsis of the data informs us that 71% of our students assessed in these cohorts are reading at the proficient of advanced levels based on the Lexile measure.  The chart below will provide you with information on the percentile rank of readers by Lexile measure:

Lexile Percentile Table

As we move to the Common Core State Standards, the current Lexile ranges (also called bands) will be “stretched” to align with the associated rigor increases.   Grades 9 & 10 have been linked as seen below:

Current Proficiency Lexile Band                                    “Stretch” Lexile Band

9th & 10th:  960-1115                                                          9th & 10th: 1080 – 1305

11th: 1070 – 1220                                                                  11th: 1215 – 1355

The Common Core Standards advocate a “staircase” of increasing text complexity, beginning in grade 2, so that students can develop their reading skills and apply them to more difficult texts.  At the lowest grade in each band, students focus on reading texts within that text complexity band.  In the subsequent grade or grades within a band, students must “stretch” to read a certain proportion of texts from the next higher text complexity band.  This pattern repeats itself throughout the grades so that students can both build on earlier literacy gains and challenge themselves with texts at a higher complexity level.

March 22, 2011

R-PHS Data on Lexile Measures

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,Documenting Results,Parents,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Teaching & Learning,Uncategorized — Mr. Beckeman @ 3:48 pm

One of the initiatives in place to support Reeths-Puffer High School’s school improvement goal of improving students’ reading comprehension is the collection of data through the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI).  This assessment provides a snapshot of students’ level of reading comprehension based on two key factors.  These factors are sentence length and word frequency.  Data from the SRI is reported as a Lexile score.  While Lexile scores are not meant to be grade level equivalents, Lexile ranges have been established for grade levels to indicate whether students’ performance puts them at the at risk, basic, proficient or advanced level.  This is helpful information for the classroom teacher as they consider student interaction with the reading materials in their courses. 

Because data has been collected from the SRI for multiple years, it is now possible to consider student performance longitudinally.  Before doing so, however, an essential statistical concept must be addressed.  Standard error of measurement or SEM is the degree of movement– either positive or negative – which must occur in order before student improvement or decline can be called significant.  The SEM for the SRI is 56 Lexile points either up or down.  Student performance at each grade level has been analyzed over multiple assessment periods taking the SEM into account. 

The current 9thgraders have taken the SRI four times between 1/10 and 2/11.  During this time, 181 (60%) students have improved their Lexile score by more than 56L.  During this same time period, 23 (8%) students have seen a decline in the Lexile score of more than 56L.  And 99 (32%) students have shown a change in Lexile which is within the SEM of 56L so changes their Lexile scores are not considered statistically significant.

Tenth graders have also taken the SRI four times during the same time period.  The performance of our tenth graders does not parallel that of the ninth grade class.  129 (47%) students have improved their Lexile score by more than 56L.  46 (17%) students have shown a decline of more than 56L.  And 101 (37%) students have not improved their reading comprehension skills more than 56L which means that 37% of this class has not made statistically significant improvement in reading comprehension during this thirteen month period. 

The current eleventh grade class has taken the SRI more times than any other grade level.  Therefore, we are able to look at the performance of this grade over a longer time period.  Between 2/09 and 2/11, the eleventh graders have taken the SRI six times.  Longitudinal results show that during this time period, 192 (60%) eleventh graders have improved their Lexile score by more than 56L.  During this same time period, 44 (14%) students showed a decline of more than 56L.  And finally 82 (26%) students have shown neither statistical improvement nor decline. 

While overall progress is occurring, further inquiry must occur to determine why some students are showing a decline in their reading comprehension abilities.  We must also continue to look at instructional strategies which will move all students into the proficient and advanced performance bands.

January 12, 2011

The Seven Standards of School Accreditation

Filed under: Community News,Continuous Improvement,Documenting Results,Governance & Leadership,Parents,Resource & Support Systems,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Teaching & Learning,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 7:10 am

Reeths-Puffer High School has been accredited through North Central Accreditation since 1972.  Over the course of 37 years of quality school accreditation, the North Central Association has evolved to assist schools in identifying quality target area goals, research-based strategies to achieve these goals and measures to monitor the progress of the intended goals.

Reeths-Puffer Schools are one of several public schools in the state of Michigan to engage in district accreditation.  This process involves all buildings and their adherence to seven specified standards that assure a quality education for all students.

The Seven Standards of NCA District Accreditation are:

Vision & Purpose

Governance & Leadership

Teaching & Learning

Documenting & Using Results

Resource & Support Systems

Stakeholder Communication & Relationships

Commitment to Continuous Improvement

I will provide to you what the high school has done, is doing and what plans we have for future work in each of the seven standards through posts to this blog. 

You will read the commendations that were presented from our visit last spring, the recommendations for consideration and our action plans on improving our services to our students specific to each standard in future posts by standard.

As an instructional staff,  are always looking to improve on our programming for our kids.  The District Accreditation model allows us to organize our focus our improvmement plans to augment student achievement across all disciplines.

May 26, 2010

Internal Peer Review Report

Filed under: Community News,Continuous Improvement,Documenting Results,Governance & Leadership,Parents,Resource & Support Systems,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Teaching & Learning,Uncategorized,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 7:42 am

On May 13th, the district’s Internal Peer Review Team paid a visit to the high school focusing their attention on the high school’s improvement efforts in the seven standards of school improvement as identified by North Central Accreditation (NCA).  The seven standards are:

  • Vision and Purpose
  • Governance and Leadership
  • Teaching and Learning
  • Documenting and Using Results
  • Resource and Support Systems
  • Stakeholder Communications and Relationships
  • Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Our strategic improvement efforts to improve our goals in reading and writing over the course of the 2009-10 school are directly linked to the seven standards.  Our two target area goals are:

  • All students will show improvement in reading comprehension across the curriculum.
  • All students will support ideas by providing details and examples when writing across the curriculum.

The NCA leadership team responsible for organizing and assisting the improvements efforts at the high school are:

  • Linda Hanson
  • Nancy Burton
  • Diana Hynde
  • Julie Kotecki
  • Liz Pratt
  • Curt Crouch
  • Tim McDougle
  • Craig Olson

The Internal Peer Review Report was just released to the high school this morning and we want to share the good news with all stakeholders associated with R-PHS.  You can click on the link below to review the report.

High School IPR Report

March 3, 2010

MME Supports for Juniors

Filed under: Archive,Documenting Results,Parents,School Board,Staff,Students,Uncategorized — Mr. Beckeman @ 12:07 pm

Hey JUNIORS!  I hope you all felt that the assembly today was time well spent.  As I mentioned to you during the assembly that I would post the support materials that were shared with you on my blog.

I’m making good on my promise to you!  You will find a number of helpful links provided below in preparation for the three-day testing period starting Tuesday, March 9th.

Junior MME Presentation

MME Test Schedule

Test Locations

R-P LMC Supports

ACT Science Support

ACT English Support

Math Test-Taking Strategies

Reading Test-Taking Strategies

ACT Practice Tests

January 28, 2010

R-P Receives District Accreditation

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,Documenting Results,Governance & Leadership,Parents,Resource & Support Systems,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Teaching & Learning,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 8:10 am

Reeths-Puffer District Schools hosted a national NCA visitation team this week with hopes that their review of our work in school improvement initiatives across the district met or exceeded their rigorous standards to receive District Accreditation Status.

The visiting team met with school board members, central office administration, building principals, NCA leadership teams from each of our schools, parents and finally students at all levels.

At the January school board meeting held last night, the visiting team presented their exit report to the board and audience highlighting commendations, challenges and recommendations.  The oral report can be accessed by clicking on the link provided below:

District Exit Report

The high school’s NCA leadership team enjoyed their time spent with the visiting team members.  Some comments from the members are bulleted below:

  • Students who were randomly picked from the visitation team mentioned that the high school was their favorite building.
  • Teachers are the best part of this school.  The students feel cared for.
  • The interview process proved to be very meaningful for our improvement initiatives.
  • It has improved our communications!
  • The change in focus from single buildings to a district focus will improve our vertical alignment.
  • It’s a reflection process which will make us better, which is what we desire.

The three day visit helped us recognize our strengths, highlight our challenges and sharpen our focus on raising student achievement across the district.

Team Photo: Distrcit Visitation Team Photo 002

January 18, 2010

Accreditation Standard IV: Documenting & Using Results

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Documenting Results,Parents,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Students — Mr. Beckeman @ 11:32 am

“Igniting Minds, Fueling Futures” (R-PHS Mission Statement)

An update on Accreditation Standard IV: Documenting & Using Results

As reported in the spring of 2009 report, the commendations noted by the Quality Assurance Review Team (QART) for Documenting & Using Results were:

  • Individual student data is provided in R-PHS’s Parent Internet Viewer
  • Interviews with staff, parents and students offered great pride in their school
  • Parents are very grateful for Parent Internet Viewer, Progress Reports and Report Cards
  • Staff is very supportive and respectful of one another
  • Students are well informed of their assessment/test scores and appreciate that they are informed of their scores in a timely manner.
  • MME data is reviewed in all subject areas
  • Each department maintains an easily accessible file containing important assessments.

The QART suggested the following recommendations for action planning during the 2009-10 school year:

  • Increase use of instructional walls in room to include items such as student exemplars, knowledge walls and solution stations
  • Use common assessment data to drive improvement goals to close the gap in student achievement
  • Visually state daily learning goals on board or overhead to provide a valued purpose for learning

The action plans that staff have initiated in this standard are:

  • All department have developed common assessment systems to improve and differentiate instruction
  • We are SRI Testing all 9th, 10th and 11th grade students 3 times during the school year so to disaggregate data to determine growth
  • We are using Lexile data to help differentiate instruction
  • We have analyzed scores for EXPLORE, PLAN and ACT to identify students needing additional repetition as well as noting areas that need improvements
  • Analysis of EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT indicates drop in reading scores, which allows us to respond with Reciprocal Teaching as an intervention
  • We are working to triangulate data from key assessments, such as our common assessments, MME and SRI, which allow us to disaggregate student data, find strengths and weaknesses and improve instruction

Please take the time to “surf” the high school website.  I believe you will be impressed with the information and support provided to our students, parents and community!

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