Below is a letter I shared with our school community on April 26, 2013 before the release of the state Department of Education’s grades… You can find our school report card from the state at the end of this letter….
- Derek Pierce
Dear CBHS Families and Friends:
We have learned that the Maine Department of Education will be releasing “A-F” grades for each school in the state in the next few days. As of this writing, I have not seen the “grade” for Casco Bay High School. When a student receives a grade at Casco Bay, it is based on a diverse body of evidence: an array of formative and summative assessments – from papers to projects – each with clear learning targets and accompanying rubrics. Sadly, the state system is not that complex. Two factors will determine a high school’s grade from the state: state standardized test scores (in reading and math only) and graduation rates (4 and 5 years). Given this narrow lens, I anticipate a grade that may seem inaccurate and even demeaning to many in our community.
Here are some data points that are not considered in the state’s grade of a high school:
- Demographics: We are proud to be one of the most diverse high schools in the state, reflective of our city. CBHS has a higher percentage of special education students and economically disadvantaged students than the state as a whole. Our percentage of English Language Learners is about ten times the state’s rate.
- 11th Grade Standardized Test Scores in Science and Writing: CBHS students have exceeded state and district pass rates by over 10% in each test of the last five years
- Drop-out Rates: CBHS has consistently been lower than state average in our dropout rate.
- College Acceptance Rates: Our college acceptance rate has been among the top in the state for four years and 100% several times.
We very much believe in public accountability for our results. In our October newsletter, we shared how we are doing on the thirteen measures our faculty devised to assess our progress, from the percentage of students earning college credit before graduation (48%, in 2011-2) to the percentage of English Language Learners who made more than one year’s growth in literacy during the school year (61% in 2011-2). We also shared our targets for improvements by 2015 (eg: that 75% of students earn college credit before graduation).
We are as determined to improve as we are proud of our success. In October, in addition, we shared our faculty’s goals: to deepen the quality of our assessment practices, to improve our support for at-risk learners, and to increase student’s math achievement. This work is ongoing, but our progress is promising. Of the sixteen students that the state views as “non-completers” in our 2012 “4-year graduation rate,” ten are on track to receive their diploma (and be college ready) this year, and four are pursuing or received their GED. Our percentage of seniors who’ve met SMCC cut scores on the Accuplacer in math has increased about 20% in one year.
No matter how we are labelled next week, we are the same school that is expanding next year because of community demand, the same school that was recognized as one of Maine’s top ten high schools by US News and World Report in 2012, that was again chosen to be one of sixteen Expeditionary Learning “Mentor Schools” nationwide. Our 2011 external evaluation by the Great Schools Partnership concluded, “the school has demonstrated consistently high levels of accomplishment in every dimension with exemplary performance… in many areas.”
The best measure of our students is in the work they create and the citizens they become. But don’t take my word for it. Come see for yourself on May 2nd at the 9th Graders’ Sustainability Symposium, or May 24th at the Maine Historical Society when the sophomores share their Hidden Histories, or at SALT Gallery on June 11th when the juniors debut their DVD of West Virginian oral histories. Better still, some weekday morning between May 20th-29th, come sit in on the seniors’ Final Words. Each senior gives a speech to their classmates and loved ones about who they are on the verge of one of life’s milestones. Every year, after witnessing each senior bring their best and after considering their astounding journeys, I teem with pride about these young adults and the exceptional school we have forged together.
This year, perhaps we will invite the Maine Department of Education.
Sincerely,
Derek Pierce
Principal
The following school report card was released on May 1st, 2013:
Casco Bay High School 2012-2013 State Report Card