Measuring Academic Achievement

Not everything important is measureable. Not everything measured is important. Metrics can have unintended consequences when the importance of the measurement is overemphasized in the absence of a true understanding of the subject being measured. – Excerpt from a Bell Telephone Laboratories quality publication.

The subject of academic achievement usually comes into focus when SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) or NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) scores are announced and the results are evaluated by the general public. These two tests are the most visible and widely discussed evaluations associated with student achievement. We should understand the main purpose of these two assessments before we draw conclusions about the effectiveness of a school system. Certainly, these two tests are important assessments for students and for a school district, but they are not the only valid assessments of academic achievement.

The SAT is used by colleges, as part of the admissions process, to assess a student’s ability to do college level work. It is important to the student (and the student’s parents) because it may affect which colleges the student might be accepted into and how much scholarship money the student might be awarded. It is a one-time, self-selected assessment. It is self-selected because not every high school student takes the test. Students who want to attend college (or students whose parents want them to attend college) take the one day test.

If the students taking the test are in the top 10 percent of their high school class, that school will score well. If a wider population of students (which would include students who are not in the top 10 percent of their class) take the test, the school may not score as well.  Optimizing school-wide SAT scores is not our goal; optimizing our students’ futures is our goal.

We encourage a broad population of Salem students to take the SAT exam. School-wide SAT scores may indicate how well a school prepares its students for college, but a better and more direct indicator is how many students are accepted into a college of their choice. Over 85 percent of Salem students apply to and are accepted into colleges that range from community colleges to Ivy League colleges.

The NECAP is, basically, a requirement of the federal No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). It’s the annual test New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont use to determine Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in math, reading, writing and science under NCLB.  The central purpose of NCLB is a good, noble and important purpose.

It’s to make sure that students with backgrounds that could make them academically disadvantaged (e.g. poverty, special needs or minority status) are given the same educational opportunities that typical students are given. Students who are in these categories are referred to as sub-groups in NCLB terms. NCLB has requirements for acceptable test scores to determine AYP. The performance target this year is 94 percent of all students in all groups scoring proficient.

This is where the problem lies. NCLB requires that sub-groups score as well as typical students. If a sub-group, which can be as few as 10 students,  does not score as well as the typical student group on the exact same test, a school or district can easily become a School or District “In Need of Improvement” (SINI or DINI). Does it make sense to give all students the best education they can receive and not ignore them because they could be disadvantaged? Absolutely. Does a requirement that a student with a severe learning disability score as well as an honor roll student make sense? Absolutely not.

As NH Commissioner of Education Virginia M. Barry, Ph.D., stated in her comments on the 2012 NECAP results: “Over 70 percent of schools and 65 percent of districts failed to make AYP in 2012. This is ample evidence that the accountability system is broken, not that the vast majority of schools in New Hampshire are failing...”

What do we in Salem learn from comparing our results to New Hampshire schools? That our decade-long emphasis on reading has been successful; our nearly decade-long emphasis on math is showing signs of success and our newly implemented writing efforts are looking promising.

The vast majority of our typical students meet the target index; many of our sub-group students meet the index as well, but too many sub-group students do not and, therefore, we are rated a “District In Need of Improvement."  This is not a problem caused by our sub-group students; it’s a problem caused by NCLB. We do well, but we have much work to do, especially for our sub-group students.

So what else does Salem do to promote academic performance? We start with high expectations. Students need 28 credits to graduate from Salem High School; the state requirement is 21 credits. We require four English credits; four math credits (starting with this year’s freshman class); three science credits; three social studies credits and a passing score on the Writing Sample as just some of our graduation requirements.

We offer several “Running Start” courses that allow Salem students to graduate from high school having received credit for college courses. We’ve modified our high school scheduling to provide year-long math courses so that students receive more math instruction. We’ve introduced a Freshman Academy program that reinforces important study skills and introduces freshmen to high school in a supportive manner. We test students regularly to find areas for individual emphasis and improvement. The result is that we have one of the highest graduation rates (or lowest drop-out rates) in the state.

The elementary schools and the middle school are focusing on math, reading and writing skills. Salem has invested a great amount of effort in staff professional development. Our teaching staff works with UNH and Plymouth State College professors to learn new methods of teaching math, reading and writing skills. Teachers regularly administer skills tests to our students to identify and track individual student skills and focus attention on individual student’s improvement needs.

Three of our elementary schools have new adequate spaces for giving sub-group students the extra help they need to be successful. There are cases where the physical facilities can help academic achievement. Constructing adequate teaching space for special services is one of those cases.

Does the Salem School District take academic achievement seriously? Yes, but we base success on more than SAT and NECAP scores. Does everyone know that? No, not unless they spend a lot of time attending or watching school board meetings. Could we do more? Sure, and we will, but it takes careful planning and results aren’t evident quickly. Want more information on what Salem does to promote and attain academic achievement?

E-mail your questions or comments to pmorgan@sau57.org and I’ll provide you more details.