Windsor Locks Public Schools Accountability Report (2014-2015)

For Immediate Release:

The 2014-2015 Next Generation Accountability Reports for Connecticut School Districts were released today. The reports reflect a significant effort on the part of the State Department of Education to provide a more holistic picture of district and school level student outcomes rather than just test scores. Using a range of indicators, such as a district’s high school 4-year and 6-year graduation rates, attendance rates, 9th grade course completion rates, as well as assessment scores across all grade levels, an overall performance index is identified for each school and district relative to a total number of points the district and its schools earned through a complex calculation. The overall accountability performance index for the Windsor Locks Public Schools for the 2014-2015 school year is 73.6. Individual school scores can be found on the state website at http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2683&Q=334346.

During this first year of the Next Generation Accountability System, the State Department of Education is using the accountability reports primarily to identify schools and districts that are classified as “focus” or “turnaround” schools. Four years ago, schools and districts categorized as “focus” or “turnaround” schools or districts became part of the Alliance Program; the Windsor Locks Public Schools were identified in 2012 as a part of that state-level program due to our performance levels at the time. The Windsor Locks Public Schools have not been identified either “focus” or “turnaround” in the Next Generation Accountability System, and therefore, for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year, we have been placed on a “pause” for accountability. What this means is that our schools and district, overall, have made improvements. We still have areas in which we need to improve. While we are still striving for excellence in every aspect across our district, the change efforts currently in place to create a mastery-based, student centered learning system are taking effect and having a positive impact on the indicators included in the new state-level accountability system.

“We are pleased to see that the state is taking a holistic approach to determining a district’s overall effectiveness in meeting the needs of students, by attending to additional success and growth indicators such as graduation rates, college going rates, attendance, and overall achievement on assessments,” Superintendent Susan Bell said in a statement. “We continue to strive to meet our goal of helping every student master challenging academic standards through a student-centered approach to teaching and learning. This gives us important information about our strengths and areas of growth – and those areas of growth, in most cases, are areas in which we are already implementing action plans.”

Next steps relative to the data included in the report will include a complete review by the Windsor Locks Public Schools Data Team, made up of teachers and administrators, who will analyze areas of strength and growth, and consider revisions to any current improvement plans underway given the outcomes included in the report. The report will be reviewed at the March 10th Board of Education meeting.

On behalf of Dr. Susan Bell, Superintendent of Windsor Locks Public Schools.