Hopkins, Ubah, MSSPA Fare Well Under New School Accountability System

, the and scored in the top 15 percent of Title I schools statewide, earning a coveted “Reward School” designation under a new school accountability system that’s an alternative to the old No Child Left Behind measurements.

Some still struggled under the new system, which plugs reading and math data the district already had from 2010 and 2011 into new formulas. But all its schools avoided the negative designations of “Priority Schools” and “Focus Schools,” according to data the Minnesota Department of Education released Tuesday.

Tuesday’s release marks the first time Minnesota has graded schools under a system allowed after President Barack Obama announced Feb. 9 that Minnesota would be one of 10 states granted a waiver to the No Child Left Behind system.

In the past, schools had to meet yearly proficiency targets and all categories of students had to meet those targets. If just one subgroup did not make “adequately yearly progress,” the school could be classified as failing.

The new system, on the other hand, gives schools a score called a “Multiple Measurements Rating (MMR)” based on their performance in four categories: proficiency, student growth, their ability to close the achievement gap and, for high schools, graduation rate.

The aim is to reward schools with students who start at a disadvantage but achieve faster than average growth—even if they don’t hit the intended target.

, for example, was in the bottom third of schools for student proficiency. But for student growth and achievement gap closure, it was better than 70 percent and 79 percent of schools, respectively. In the end, the school netted 54.4 percent of the MMR points possible.

Diane Schimelpfenig—the district’s director of teaching, learning and assessment—said the new system recognizes the work that Hopkins is already doing to help students.

“I like the fact that the focus has broadened beyond AYP (adequate yearly progress) targets,” she said. “In terms of growth, I really like how they have helped us understand it in a consistent way across the state.”

Average scores statewide are right around the 50 percent mark. In many cases, Hopkins met or exceeded that norm—with , , Gatewood and all near the 70-percent mark or higher.

Meadowbrook led the way with 79 percent but was not eligible for the “Reward School” designation because it is not a Title I school, which are schools that have higher concentrations of students receiving free and reduced lunch.

Hopkins Public Schools has four Title I schools: , , and Gatewood. Both the Main Street School of Performing Arts and Ubah Medical Academy are also Title I schools.

Schimelpfenig credited much of Meadowbrook’s and Gatewood’s success to the schools’ professional learning communities—groups of teachers who work together to implement best practices and intervene with individual students who are struggling.

and Eisenhower struggled the most, scoring 29.77 and 32.88 percent, respectively. Math scores that accounted for some of that, Schimelpfenig said.

Because the formulas are based on the schools’ percentile ranking, the new system ultimately pits schools against one another.

In neighboring districts:

• Eden Prairie had two reward schools,
• Edina had two reward schools,
• Minnetonka had four reward schools and
• St. Louis Park had one reward school.

But Schimelpfenig said she doesn’t view the new system as a competition. The district will continue to work with schools to provide the best instruction for students.

“Part of this new system will just be an experience with time,” she said. “We focus on reading and mathematics every day, all year long—as well as other factors that don’t get tested.”

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to read an explanation of how scores are calculated.

to see the scores each school received.

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