Creekland Middle SchoolDr. Eddie Maresh, Principal Kelli McCain, Area Superintendent

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) has developed an accountability system for improving schools called the Results-Based Evaluation System (RBES). RBES fairly and systematically measures a school’s progress, providing a process that clearly communicates expectations; reviews, monitors, and supports school performance; and evaluates that performance.

The Creekland Middle school council and school leaders collaborated on the highlights included in this accountability report, which also serves as the school’s annual report. The report provides consolidated information on the school’s effectiveness, based on multiple measures and student characteristics. Please review this report to learn more about the school’s improvement efforts and progress.

CONTENTS:Key Results on Improvement Plans

2011–12 Results: – GCPS Promotion

Requirements… Grade 7 Gateway Grade 8 Writing Gateway

– State Promotion Requirements… Grade 8 CRCT

– Percentage Meeting or Exceeding State Standards

Principal’s Message

2011–12 Highlights

Staff Data

Student Data

School Safety Perceptions

Accountability ReportResults-Based Evaluation System Issued 2012–13

Goal: To increase academic performance in mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science for all students, with targeted support for student subgroups, in order to meet or exceed annual targets through collaborative planning.

Results: Student performance results indicated that Creekland made progress in several areas:

•Creekland increased its percentage of students exceeding expectations on the Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment while reducing the percentage of students not meeting the standard. We are pleased that eight Creekland Middle students achieved a perfect score on the Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment.

•Grade 7 performance on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) showed significant gains in achievement, resulting in Creekland Middle receiving maximum points on its local school assessment.

•The percentage of students achieving in the Exceeds Standards range on the CRCT increased in every subject area for grades 7 and 8.

•Creekland was recognized for students’ outstanding performance on state-required End of Course Tests (EOCT) for designated high school courses. Students in our accelerated science program took a high-school level class— Physical Science— that requires the EOCT. Of accelerated science students taking the tests, 90% of the students met or exceeded standards on the EOCT.

Key Results from 2011–12 Local School Plans for Improvement

Local School Plans for Improvement are plans developed locally by school administrators, teachers, and parent advisory groups. These plans outline school goals.

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Gwinnett schools measure student learning of the school system’s curriculum— the Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS)— in a number of ways to ensure students have learned the AKS and will be successful in the next grade. One measure is the state’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT), which compares student achievement to state standards in several subject areas for grades 3–8. Georgia students in grade 8 also take a state writing assessment. Test results are used by teachers to identify individual student strengths and weaknesses and by the state to gauge the quality of education throughout Georgia.

2011–12 Results: Gwinnett County Public Schools Promotion Requirements (Grades 7 and 8)In Gwinnett, state tests taken in 7th grade are used as Gateway assessments and results are used to determine whether a

student is prepared for the next grade level. Following are results for Creekland Middle for these local promotion requirements.

Grade 7 Gateway: Language Arts, Reading, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies CRCT SubtestsFor 2011–12, a Gwinnett 7th grader was required to meet grade-level expectations on the CRCT in five subject areas—

language arts, reading, mathematics, science, and social studies— in order to earn promotion. Students’ test performance on the Grade 7 Gateway falls into three levels of mastery of the state’s curriculum: Exceeds, Meets, Does Not Meet.

Performance Levels

ExceedsMeetsDoes Not Meet

Percentages shown may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Percentages 7% and below are not labeled. Reflects spring administration.

Grade 8 Gateway: Georgia Grade 8 Writing AssessmentIn addition to earning passing grades, GCPS 8th graders were required to make a

passing score on the Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment, which is a Gateway test in Gwinnett. This chart reflects how well Creekland Middle’s students did on the test in 2011–12, with 95% of Creekland 8th graders passing the writing Gateway on the first try. (Data reflects achievement of all students, including special education students and students with limited English proficiency.)

Performance Levels

ExceedsMeetsDoes Not Meet

Percentages shown may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Percentages 7% and below are not labeled. Reflects spring administration.

GCPS

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%Creekland

MS

77.0

18.1

76.1

17.1

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

CreeklandMS

GCPS

Creekland MS GCPS Creekland MS GCPS Creekland MS GCPS Creekland MS GCPS Creekland MS GCPS

31.9

66.2

37.4

59.7

0

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40

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100

CreeklandMS

GCPS

Language Arts

54.8

43.7

57.5

39.6

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CreeklandMS

GCPS

Reading

26.5

71.4

36.4

60.0

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80

100

CreeklandMS

GCPS

Mathematics

22.6

73.4

30.0

63.7

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40

60

80

100

CreeklandMS

GCPS

Science

13.6

83.1

8.0

21.1

70.9

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40

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100

CreeklandMS

GCPS

Social Studies

100%

80%

60%

40%

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0%

2011–12 Results: State Promotion Requirements (Grade 8)

% of Students Who Passed CRCT Subtests Required for Promotion*

*Reflects spring administration

Creekland GCPS State8th Grade Reading CRCT 99 98 968th Grade Math CRCT 92 85 77

The state also has established promotion requirements for selected grade levels. The table at the right reflects the percentage of Creekland Middle students in grade 8 who met grade-level expectations on the state’s CRCT in order to earn promotion.

A Message from the Principal About Student Achievement and Academic InitiativesCreekland Middle School’s mission is to maximize each student’s development of personal excellence. The cornerstone of this

mission is providing students with a great academic foundation. Creekland students demonstrated progress in the 2011–12 school year by achieving at high levels on most areas of the CRCT. While the achievement results were encouraging, we know there is still more room for growth. Specifically, there are opportunities for higher achievement for our student subgroups. The school will continue to meet these challenges by focusing on quality instruction for all students.

Teachers will receive job-embedded staff development that incorporates the Quality-Plus Teaching Strategies. These research-based teaching techniques have been proven effective with all types of learners across grade levels and subject areas. Teacher collaboration is one of the key components that will help us raise the quality of instruction. Working together, our teachers refine instruction. In these collaborative meetings, teachers review instructional strategies, analyze student achievement data, and share best practices.

Creekland Middle continues to work with the other schools in the Collins Hill Cluster. These vertical collaborations across grade and school levels will be essential as we strive to increase the college and career readiness of our students. This collabora-tion has resulted in vertical cluster initiatives in all content areas.

Creekland Middle has implemented the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program to encourage our students to demonstrate Service, Ownership, Accountability, and Respect (SOAR). This program has had a positive impact on the school climate and culture, resulting in a significant decrease in the number of disciplinary infractions.

The school needs the involvement of all stakeholders to become the world-class school that we envision. We will continue to establish relationships with the community to create the very best environment for our students. Positive partnerships with our parents also will be essential for us to realize success.

Georgia Moves to Performance Index as Measure of ProgressIn February 2012, federal education officials approved Georgia’s newly developed College and Career Ready Performance Index

(CCRPI) to replace the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measure under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Under the waiver granted by the U.S. Department of Education, Georgia’s new performance index replaces provisions of NCLB. (The formal name for federal education reform is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or ESEA.) Starting with 2013 results, the index will measure progress on accountability indicators such as content mastery, student attendance, and preparation for the next school level. Indicators vary by grade and school level and align with measures of college- and career-readiness. While the waiver removes the requirement that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014, the CCRPI will assess how well students are prepared for college and careers and ensures that schools will be focused on improving achievement among all students. Parents will learn more about how our school measures up on the new index with next year’s school accountability report.

Percentage of Students Meeting or Exceeding State Standards

Creekland MS Creekland MSGCPS GCPS

Note: In charts above, only subgroups with 10 or more students are reported. The charts above reflect an average for grades 6–8 of spring and summer test administrations of the CRCT.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Reading/English Language Arts

Economically Disadvantaged

Limited English Proficient

Students with Disabilities

Multiracial

White

Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native

Hispanic

Black

Asian/Pacific Islander

All Students

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Mathematics

Economically Disadvantaged

Limited English Proficient

Students with Disabilities

Multiracial

White

Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native

Hispanic

Black

Asian/Pacific Islander

All Students

2011–12 Results: Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) and Adequate Yearly Progress While Georgia no longer uses CRCT results for grades 6–8 to determine Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status under the

federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the results, separated by student subgroup, do show a school’s progress toward closing the achievement gap between groups of students. The graphs below indicate the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading/English language arts and mathematics. See below to learn more about how the state will measure progress toward academic performance goals, starting with 2013 test results.

Other 2011–12 Highlights... •More than 50 students participated in the PTSA-sponsored

Reflections program. Nine of those students placed at the regional competition.

• For the first time in the school’s history, more Creekland band members passed the first round of All-State auditions and gained acceptance into the District 13 Honor Band than any other school in the Georgia Music Educators Association’s (GMEA) District 13.

•Creekland’s band earned unanimous Superior ratings from every judge at the GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation for the second consecutive year.

•The Creekland Middle orchestra was one of two middle school orchestras invited to perform at the GMEA festival in Savannah.

•Creekland’s Counseling team was recognized with the RAMP (Recognized ASCA Model Program) Award for its commitment to developing and delivering a comprehensive, data-driven counseling program. Creekland was the only Georgia middle school to earn the award for 2011–12.

•The Lady Eagles Basketball team won the Western Division Championship.

•The school’s MATHCOUNTS team competed at the regional level. One student advanced to the state competition.

•Creekland Middle hosted the 1st Annual Jones Creek 5K at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. This race raised money for the special needs programs at Creekland Middle.

•Creekland Middle students participated in Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (TIP), which invites high-perform-ing middle school students to take the SAT (a college-entrance exam) as 7th graders. Twenty students earned recognition.

•The Creekland Readers Rally Team finished 2nd in its division.• Fifty-six students competed in the Gwinnett Science and Engineer-

ing Fair. Eight of those students won in their division and moved on to the state competition.

•Our Relay For Life team was recognized for raising more than $10,000, and our United Way contributions exceeded our goal of $5,000.

•Creekland Middle was recognized as a Taking Action Green & Healthy School in the Environmental Achievement Awards sponsored by Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful.

Creekland Middle School

The mission of Gwinnett County Public Schools is to pursue excellence in academic knowledge, skills, and behavior for each student,

resulting in measured improvement against local, national, and world-class standards.

Creekland Middle School170RussellRoad•Lawrenceville,GA,30043

(770)338-4700• http://www.creeklandmiddle.org/Dr. Eddie Maresh, Principal

Gwinnett County Public Schools 437OldPeachtreeRd.,NW•Suwanee,GA30024-2978

www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us2012 Gwinnett County Board of Education

Louise Radloff, 2012 Chairman; Carole C. Boyce, 2012 Vice Chairman;

Dr. Robert McClure; Dr. Mary Kay Murphy; and Daniel D. Seckinger J. Alvin Wilbanks, CEO/Superintendent

School Safety PerceptionsBased on responses from those with an opinion responding to the 2011–12 RBES Perception Survey…• 80.3%ofstudentsagreedorstronglyagreedthat

they felt safe at Creekland Middle.• 97.1%ofparentsagreedorstronglyagreedthat

their child’s school was safe.

2011–12 Staff Data

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Bachelor’s Degree Master’s Degree Specialist’s Degree Doctorate Degree

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Experience in Education

2011–12 Student Data

School Year09–10 10–11 11–12

Enrollment 2291 2292 2263+American Indian/Alaskan Native* 1% 1% 0%+Asian* 12% 12% 12%+Black/African American* 24% 25% 25%+Hispanic or Latino, any race 21% 21% 22%+Multiracial, two or more races* 4% 4% 5%+Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander* 0% 0% 0%+White* 40% 37% 35%Special Education 12% 11% 10%ESOL 2% 2% 2%Free/Reduced Lunch 42% 43% 46%Average Attendance 97% 97% 97%

*Not Hispanic or Latino